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Lot Essay
This, and presumably the work exhibited in 1852 as The Forrester's Horn, is almost certainly the work described by the artist's son A. H. Palmer as 'a great blunder in the shape of The Forrester's Horn disturbing a great herd of deer in a glade. All stags with antlers.' (Ivimy MS, quoted at Lister, loc. cit.). Lister, listing the work as untraced since 1954, tentatively identifies it with the watercolour sold at Christie's, 9 July 1954, lot 19, where it was sold for 34 guineas to Bowden. However, the description in the sale catalogue rules this out: 'Landscape with a Stag Hunt, peasant woman and donkey.'
Our watercolour is a typical work of Palmer's middle period, Claudian in mood and general composition but based on the artist's experiences of real scenery such as the Alps, seen on his journey to Italy in 1837-9. To encompass the panoramic views of such works Palmer adopted a particularly wide format, in this case, that he termed 'little large', approximately 19 x 40 cm. (he also developed a bigger, 'large long' format; see Lister, op. cit., pp. 6-7).
Our watercolour is a typical work of Palmer's middle period, Claudian in mood and general composition but based on the artist's experiences of real scenery such as the Alps, seen on his journey to Italy in 1837-9. To encompass the panoramic views of such works Palmer adopted a particularly wide format, in this case, that he termed 'little large', approximately 19 x 40 cm. (he also developed a bigger, 'large long' format; see Lister, op. cit., pp. 6-7).