Thomas Shotter Boys

Dr. William Brockbank (1900-1984),
his sale, London, Sotheby's, 11 November 1982, lot 175;
Sale, London, Sotheby's, 8 April 1998, lot 54, to the present owner

 

Nottingham, University Art Gallery and London, Agnew's, Thomas Shotter Boys 1803-1874 Centenary Exhibition, 1974, no. 57;
New York, Davis & Langdale Company, British Drawings, May-June 1984, no. 43
  

The sheet has been carefully presented and preserved. The work has not been laid down but is attached to the current mount along the sheet edges. There is a line of very, very minor staining along the right hand edge of the sheet. Although the pigments may have faded very slightly, overall they remain strong and clear. For further information on this lot please contact either Mark Griffith-Jones (0207 293 5083 - mark.griffithjones@sothebys.com) or Emmeline Hallmark (emmeline.hallmark@sothebys.com - 0207 293 5407).
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.

This watercolor is a very delicately painted work, typical of Boys' talent as a watercolorist. Boys travelled to Durham on several occasions in the 1830s and 1840s. Another smaller watercolor of the same composition is recorded,¹ while he exhibited a work entitled Durham at the New Watercolour Society in 1845 (no. 303).

Boys also drew views of Durham from the fields to the north-west; one watercolor, signed and dated 1830, appeared on the market in 1979 and another was exhibited in the Thomas Shotter Boys exhibition mentioned above.

Dr. Brockbank, a previous owner of this work, was a distinguished doctor and Dean of Clinical Studies at the University of Manchester.  

1. J. Roundell, Thomas Shotter Boys, London 1974, p.168, pl. 74