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Lot Essay
Previously misidentified as Cochem, this is in fact a view of the quay at Frankfurt-am-Main, a city Callow visited in 1838 and 1852 (William Callow, An Autobiography, London, 1908, pp. 70, 107). It may be identified by comparison with a drawing by Turner, dating from 1835, taken from a similar viewpoint, in the Prague, Nuremberg, Frankfurt and Rhine Sketchbook, (Tate Britain, Turner Bequest CCCIV, 38). The building with corner turrets is the Rententurm, or Customs Tower, a vestige of the city's walls, dating from 1455-56. The tower still survives, although it is now separated from the river by a road.
Two other watercolours of the quay at Frankfurt by Callow are recorded, a larger version that was exhibited at the Old Water-Colour Society in 1859 (op.cit, p. 154, formerly with Leger Galleries), and a version of a similar size to the present picture (with the Fine Art Society, 1949)
George Elgar Hicks, for whom this watercolour was made, was a painter of genre and sentimental subjects, mainly in oils.
Two other watercolours of the quay at Frankfurt by Callow are recorded, a larger version that was exhibited at the Old Water-Colour Society in 1859 (op.cit, p. 154, formerly with Leger Galleries), and a version of a similar size to the present picture (with the Fine Art Society, 1949)
George Elgar Hicks, for whom this watercolour was made, was a painter of genre and sentimental subjects, mainly in oils.