Joseph Mallord William Turner R.A.

George, Viscount Malden, later 5^th Earl of Essex (1757-1837), Hampton Court, Herefordshire;
Richard Arkwright (1755-1843);
by descent to his son John Arkwright (1833-1905);
possibly Mrs Nancy Burrell, by 1912;
Sale, London, Sotheby's, 14 March 1985, lot 61 (£8,580)

A. Wilton, The Life and Work of J.M.W. Turner, 1979, p. 312, cat. no. 98

ENGRAVED:
J. Walker for Walker's Copper-Plate Magazine, 1797 (R. 12)

Framed. The drawing is faded by sunlight to a yellow/brown. At the left and lower edges are strips of what appear to be the original colours- the blues and greens have now faded from the main body of the paper. Some very light, small spots in the sky, and a little surface dirt at the upper edges.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In 1795 George, Viscount Malden, later 5^th Earl of Essex, commissioned from Turner six drawings of Hampton Court in Herefordshire. Malden had inherited the property in 1781 from his grandmother, Frances, daughter of Lord Coningsby.

The present work shows the house from the South-West with the summer house visible through the trees on the left. In the foreground the river Lugg, a tributary of the Wye, can be seen. Turner based this work on the drawings in his South Wales sketch-book (T.B. XXVII-51).

Turner made other pencil studies of the house which are also contained in the South Wales sketch-book (TBXXVII). Views of the house from the north-east, the north-west, the Chapel and of an oak tree in the park are to be found in the collection of the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester (Wilton nos. 182-185), while a watercolor of the cascade in the park (see Wilton no. 186) is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Unlike the other watercolors within the group, this work remained at Hampton Court after it had been sold to Richard Arkwright (1755-1843) in 1810. As a result, until Sotheby's sale on 14^th March 1987, when this work last came on the open market, the image was only known from J. Walker's 1797 engraving.

Richard Arkwright was the son of the inventor and industrialist Sir Richard Arkwright (1732-1792). Once described as 'the richest commoner in Europe', he and his descendants lived at Hampton Court until 1912 when it was purchased, along with the majority of its contents, by Mrs Nancy Burrell. In 1924 the house changed hands again, this time being bought by Viscount Hereford.