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Lot Essay
This watercolour can be dated from the late 1820s on stylistic grounds. Cox did, however, know Lord and Lady Arden before this apparently in 1814, Lady Arden advanced Cox a loan to allow him to settle his family in Hereford, when he accepted a post as a drawing master at a school.
John Varley had helped Cox establish himself as a drawing-master and through his recommendations Cox rapidly gained a reputation as a competent teacher, numbering among his pupils various members of the aristocracy, including Lady Sophia Cecil, Lady Exeter, Henry Windsor, the future 8th Earl of Plymouth and Lady Arden. His reputation as a drawing-master was reinforced by the publication of a number of successful drawing manuals, including A Series of Progressive Lessons Intended to Elucidate the Art of Painting in Water Colours, first published in 1811. This was followed two years later by A Treatise on Landscape Painting and Effect in Water Colours, and in 1819-20 The Young Artist's Companion. During the early 19th Century manuals and treatises on drawing and watercolour painting became increasingly popular and Cox's publications were some of the most influential.
Charles Percival, 2nd Baron Arden was a politician, whose younger brother Spencer Percival was Prime Minister between 1809 and 1812, and has the dubious distinction of being the only British Prime Minister to be assassinated.
John Varley had helped Cox establish himself as a drawing-master and through his recommendations Cox rapidly gained a reputation as a competent teacher, numbering among his pupils various members of the aristocracy, including Lady Sophia Cecil, Lady Exeter, Henry Windsor, the future 8th Earl of Plymouth and Lady Arden. His reputation as a drawing-master was reinforced by the publication of a number of successful drawing manuals, including A Series of Progressive Lessons Intended to Elucidate the Art of Painting in Water Colours, first published in 1811. This was followed two years later by A Treatise on Landscape Painting and Effect in Water Colours, and in 1819-20 The Young Artist's Companion. During the early 19th Century manuals and treatises on drawing and watercolour painting became increasingly popular and Cox's publications were some of the most influential.
Charles Percival, 2nd Baron Arden was a politician, whose younger brother Spencer Percival was Prime Minister between 1809 and 1812, and has the dubious distinction of being the only British Prime Minister to be assassinated.