A study of undergrowth at Chudleigh, Devon

Details

John White Abbott (1763-1851)
A study of undergrowth at Chudleigh, Devon
inscribed and dated 'Chudleigh Sep.r 21. 1798.' (lower right), and further signed with initials, inscribed and dated 'Chudleigh - finished on the Spot./JWA. Sept. 21. 1798.' (on the reverse of the artist's mount)
pencil and green and ochre wash
5¾ x 8 1/8 in. (14.6 x 20.6 cm.)

Provenance

Mrs. Dobson.
with Agnew's, London, 1943, where purchased by A.T. Loyd and by descent to the present owner.

Literature

L. Parris, The Loyd Collection of Paintings, Drawings and Sculptures, 1967, no. 66, p. 30, pl. 58.

Exhibited

London, Agnew's, Water-Colour Drawings, 1943, no. 15.
London, Tate Gallery, Landscape in Britain c.1750-1850, 1973-4, no. 105.
Peking, The British Council, Exhibition of British Drawings and Watercolours, 1982, catalogue untraced.
Newbury, Newbury Spring Festival, The Development of English Landscape Painting in Watercolours and Drawings, 1984, no. 10.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Abbott is recorded as visiting Chudleigh on many occasions; a comparable but larger watercolour drawn at Chudleigh Rock and dated 'Augt. 14. 1792', was formerly owned by the Mount Trust and was sold in these Rooms, 14 November 1972, lot 97, as 'Chudleigh Rock', dated 'Augt. 14 1792'.

Chudleigh and its mills also caught the eye of fellow artist Francis Towne who painted 'A mill at Chudleigh' 1785, exhibited in Francis Towne and his Friends, John Spink at Colnaghi's, 10-25 November 2005, no. 4.

Abbott's early study of this small, insignificant corner of nature, executed in the 1790s, has few comparables and is remarkable in its freshness and originality.

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