The faggot gatherer

Details

Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. (1727-1788)
The faggot gatherer
pencil
7 3/8 x 5¾ in. (18.7 x 14.6 cm.)

Provenance

Anon. sale, [Sir Charles Robinson]; Sothebys, London, 24 January 1950, lot 97.

Literature

J. Hayes, Gainsborough Drawings: A Supplement to the Catalogue Raisonné, Master Drawings, 1983, vol. XXI, no. 4, 1983, p. 380, no. 882, pl. 3a as 'present whereabouts unknown'.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis This lot is subject to Collection and Storage charges

Lot Essay

The present drawing is stylistically related to J. Hayes, The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough, London, 1970, no. 67, pl. 3, and is dateable to the mid 1740s. The precise and tight nature of its execution is typical of Gainsborough's very early drawings.

The motif of the woodcutter carrying a load of faggots was to become one of Gainsborough's characteristic images, especially in the last fifteen years of his life. Previous to its appearance in these Rooms this drawing was known only from a photograph, formerly owned by Dr. Mary Woodall.

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