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Lot Essay
This view looking north from Lambeth shows Westminster Abbey, the Tower of St. Margaret's Church flying the Royal Standard, and Westminster Hall, with the twin turrets of the House of Commons visible above the trees of the Cotton and Speaker's Gardens. The foreground is dominated by a magnificent barge and the scene is further articulated by a series of smaller vessels and animated figures, capturing the vibrancy of life along the river.
The south-west tower of the Abbey is shown encased in scaffolding in the course of construction, the stonework only extending to the upper course. The west façade had remained incomplete from the Middle Ages. Christopher Wren (1632-1723) had planned on finish it, but the job fell to his pupil and assistant, Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661-1736). The accounts of John Bacchus, the carpenter, and James John, the architect, preserved in the Abbey Muniments, record that the scaffolding was removed towards the end of 1744.
This view had been painted by Canaletto on his visit to London in 1745 and was subsequently popularised by Samuel Scott. Richard Kingzett records three versions of the view by Scott, each with its own idiosyncrasies: the first, signed and dated 1746 (private collection, on loan to Tate Britain, London); the second, signed and dated 1747/9 (Yale Centre for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection); and the third signed and dated 1748 (private collection; R. Kingzett, 'A Catalogue of the Works of Samuel Scott', Walpole Society, XXXXVIII, 1982, pp. 58-60, A, B, and C. respectively).
The present composition is close to the 1746 view by Scott: in the placement of an elaborate barge before the Abbey; in the positioning of the accompanying smaller barge and rowing boats; in the arrangement of the boats on the bank; and in the positioning of the single craft firing a salute a little further upstream (which incorporates the same gesticulating figure). The principal barge, which appears identical in both, has previously been identified as that of the Ironmongers' Company, and the activity in turn thought to show a rehearsal for the Lord Mayor's procession. In the 1747-9 view, the arms of the Ironmongers' Company are clearly visible on the barge's stern post. Here, however, any armorial bearings are obscured by the angle of the boat in the water. The present barge is also far more elaborately decorated than that in the 1747-9 view, and in fact bears close resemblance to Kent's 1732 barge design for Frederick, Prince of Wales, in the overall length (being a twelve-oared vessel) and decoration, including the same prominent dog-head design at the bow (see K.N. Palmer, Ceremonial Barges on the River Thames: A History of the Barges of the City of London, Livery Companies and of the Crown, London, 1997, illustrated on the inside cover). While Royal Watermen are usually dressed in the Household livery, consisting of a red tunic, gold plastrons back and front, and a black cap, the Prince of Wales had his own livery, with the badge worn over the left breast.
We are grateful to Robert Crouch, M.V.O. (Her Majesty's Bargemaster, retired 2001; and author of The Coat: The Origin and Times of Thomas Doggett's Famous Wager, Trafford, 2006) for his assistance in identifying the barge in this painting.
The south-west tower of the Abbey is shown encased in scaffolding in the course of construction, the stonework only extending to the upper course. The west façade had remained incomplete from the Middle Ages. Christopher Wren (1632-1723) had planned on finish it, but the job fell to his pupil and assistant, Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661-1736). The accounts of John Bacchus, the carpenter, and James John, the architect, preserved in the Abbey Muniments, record that the scaffolding was removed towards the end of 1744.
This view had been painted by Canaletto on his visit to London in 1745 and was subsequently popularised by Samuel Scott. Richard Kingzett records three versions of the view by Scott, each with its own idiosyncrasies: the first, signed and dated 1746 (private collection, on loan to Tate Britain, London); the second, signed and dated 1747/9 (Yale Centre for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection); and the third signed and dated 1748 (private collection; R. Kingzett, 'A Catalogue of the Works of Samuel Scott', Walpole Society, XXXXVIII, 1982, pp. 58-60, A, B, and C. respectively).
The present composition is close to the 1746 view by Scott: in the placement of an elaborate barge before the Abbey; in the positioning of the accompanying smaller barge and rowing boats; in the arrangement of the boats on the bank; and in the positioning of the single craft firing a salute a little further upstream (which incorporates the same gesticulating figure). The principal barge, which appears identical in both, has previously been identified as that of the Ironmongers' Company, and the activity in turn thought to show a rehearsal for the Lord Mayor's procession. In the 1747-9 view, the arms of the Ironmongers' Company are clearly visible on the barge's stern post. Here, however, any armorial bearings are obscured by the angle of the boat in the water. The present barge is also far more elaborately decorated than that in the 1747-9 view, and in fact bears close resemblance to Kent's 1732 barge design for Frederick, Prince of Wales, in the overall length (being a twelve-oared vessel) and decoration, including the same prominent dog-head design at the bow (see K.N. Palmer, Ceremonial Barges on the River Thames: A History of the Barges of the City of London, Livery Companies and of the Crown, London, 1997, illustrated on the inside cover). While Royal Watermen are usually dressed in the Household livery, consisting of a red tunic, gold plastrons back and front, and a black cap, the Prince of Wales had his own livery, with the badge worn over the left breast.
We are grateful to Robert Crouch, M.V.O. (Her Majesty's Bargemaster, retired 2001; and author of The Coat: The Origin and Times of Thomas Doggett's Famous Wager, Trafford, 2006) for his assistance in identifying the barge in this painting.