St Austell, Cornwall

Rowlandson's good friend, the banker Matthew Michell, was deputy Lieutenant of Cornwall. His seat, Hengar House, was in the village of St. Tudy, near Bodmin, and Rowlandson was a frequent visitor there. This drawing must have been made on one of his visits to Hengar. Two other versions of this drawing, with slightly different staffage, are known: one is in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, bequeathed by Rev. Alexander Dyce (DYCE.796), and the other in the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
Roger Makins was a British Diplomat who was Ambassador to the United States (1953-6). As a collector he is best known for his Collection of Pre-Raphaelite Art but he also put together a fine collection of Early British Drawings, the majority purchased from the prestigious London dealers Agnew’s and Spink.