Landscape and cattle, Bingley Gate, near Canterbury

This early work was deemed so succesful that Cooper painted three other versions, one omitting the boy on the donkey, and another now in Maidstone Art Gallery. Bingley Gate is not identified on any maps or plans of Canterbury, but was the colloquial name given to a fording place by Bingley's Island, which was formed by tributaries of the river Stour. The west gate of the city and the city's south west wall can be glimpsed in the background.

We are grateful to Kenneth Westwood for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.