Shipping in the Bay of Naples with the old Molo, Vesuvius beyond

Marlow travelled through the Continent arriving in Naples in late 1765 where he met Sir William Hamilton (1731-1803). There are a number of comparable versions by Marlow of the present composition: one, in watercolour with a slightly different arrangement of shipping and figures, was sold in these Rooms from the collection of Viggo de Wichfield, 5 June 1973, lot 109; a version in oil, painted at night with Vesuvius dramatically erupting in the background, was sold at Sotheby's, 27 October 1971, lot 125; and a pencil study of the lighthouse, to the right of the present watercolour, was sold in these Rooms, 14 July 1987, as part of an album of 157 drawings by Marlow.

Bampfylde, an early owner of this watercolour and an amateur artist himself, was the son of John Bampfylde, M.P., of Hestercombe, Somerset, which he inherited on his father's death in 1750.

We are grateful to Michael Liversidge and Pieter van der Merwe for their help in preparing this catalogue entry.