John Constable, R.A. (1776-1837)

A Butter Burr

Details

John Constable, R.A. (1776-1837)
A Butter Burr
inscribed 'Butter Burr.' (lower left) and dated '.Jan^..2^..1826.' (lower centre)
pencil, pen and brown ink
7 3/8 x 4¼ in. (18.8 x 11.4 cm.)

Provenance

Charles Bostock; Sotheby's London, 26 June 1946, in lot 71, an album (£2000 to Agnew's).

Literature

G. Reynolds, The Later Paintings and Drawings of John Constable, New Haven and London, 1984, p. 170, under no. 26.7.

Exhibited

London, Agnew's, 74th Annual Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings, January - March 1947, no. 26.

Lot Essay

There is another drawing of a Butter Burr in Flower in the Courtauld Institute Galleries, London University (G. Reynolds, loc.cit, no. 26.7, pl. 615). It was executed on the back of an invitation to a lecture to take place in Brighton on 22 September 1825, addressed to the botanist Henry Phillips, who presumably passed it on to Constable, who was in Brighton for a few days at the end of that month. Reynolds suggests that the Courtauld Galleries drawing was made in April 1826 when the plant would next have flowered, as is noted in the inscription: 'Grows in moist places, flowers in April leaves succeed till winter'. Our drawing shows the leaves in January, when Constable is known to have been in Brighton again.

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