Lot 94
94
JOHN 'WARWICK' SMITH, O.W.S. (CUMBERLAND 1749-1831 LONDON)
This lot has been imported from outside of the UK … Read more PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF NINA R. AND ARTHUR A. HOUGHTON, JR. (LOTS 94-97 AND 100-129)Lots 94-97 and 100-129 come from the distinguished collection of Nina R. and Arthur A. Houghton, Jr. Mr. Houghton was an influential patron of the arts as well as a renowned collector in his own right. His early focus on the collection of manuscripts and first edition books by renowned English authors later expanded to include distinguished literary objects such as two Gutenberg Bibles and the incomparable Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp (folios of which were offered by Christie's in 1976 and 1988). He formed an outstanding collection of miniature books, English Silver, and acquired over time a small but exquisite group of artworks, including the watercolours and works on paper offered here, as well as paintings by Francesco Guardi, Thomas Sully, Jean Honore Fragonard, and Hendrik Reekers among others. Today, Harvard, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and numerous other institutions are the beneficiaries of generous donations made by Mr. Houghton from the various collections he formed during his lifetime. Notably, he endowed the Houghton Library at Harvard as a repository for the university's collections of rare books and manuscripts. Mr. Houghton was a board member of the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Museum, vice chairman of a committee to create Lincoln Center, vice president of the Pierpont Morgan Library, trustee and chairman of the Cooper Union, trustee and chairman of the Parsons School of Design, and co-founder of the Corning Museum of Glass. Arthur Houghton married Nina Rodale in 1972, and together they lived on the Eastern Shore of Maryland with their children. Nina Rodale Houghton was a life-long supporter of educational institutions and causes, serving as Trustee of the Wye Institute, Trustee of Goucher College, a board member of the Columbus Center in Baltimore, and an advisory group member to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. She was a member of the Board of Visitors to Johns Hopkins Medicine, a member of the Board of Visitors of University of Maryland College Park, and a board member of the Aspen Institute. Before marrying Mr. Houghton, she worked with the Sea Mammal Motivational Institute (SEAMAMM) studying and training seals and sea lions aboard a research vessel with her family for four years, which was covered in depth in a November 1968 National Geographic article.
JOHN 'WARWICK' SMITH, O.W.S. (CUMBERLAND 1749-1831 LONDON)

Head of Windermere from Belle Grange Farm

Details
JOHN 'WARWICK' SMITH, O.W.S. (CUMBERLAND 1749-1831 LONDON)
Head of Windermere from Belle Grange Farm
signed and dated 'J. Smith 1789' (lower right) and inscribed 'Head of Windermere, from Belle Grange Farm. No 23. (upper centre, on the artists original mount)
pencil and watercolour with scratching out
13 5/8 x 20 1/8 in. (34.6 x 51 cm.)
Provenance
J.C. Curwen, and by descent.
with Agnew's, London, 1970, where purchased for the present collection.
Literature
C. Powell and S. Hebron, A Cumbrian Artist Rediscovered: John Smith (1749-1831), Grasmere, 2011, p. 82.
Exhibited
Preston, Harris Museum and Art Gallery, The English Lakes. Water-colour drawings by John 'Warwick' Smith (1749-1831), 1949, no. 12.
Special notice
This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.

Brought to you by

Annabel Kishor
Annabel Kishor Specialist
+44 (0) 20 7389 2709

Lot Essay


The present drawing is one of a series commissioned by John Christian Curwen (1756-1828), M.P. for Carlisle. He lived at Workington Hall, on the coast at Seaton, and at Belle Isle House, Belle Isle, Windermere, which had been passed down in his wife's family. He commissioned a series of Lake District views from Smith - one, Lake Windermere from Calgarth with Belle Isle, is now at Yale Center for British Art.
Belle Grange is on the western bank of Lake Windermere, almost opposite the town of Windermere, and was also owned by the Curwen family.

More from Old Master and British Drawings and Watercolours including a Fine Collection of Old Master Prints

View All
View All