Peter De Wint

Helen Tatlock, the artist's daughter;
By descent to Harriet Helen Tatlock (d.1922), the artist's grandaughter;
By whom bequeathed to her companion Muriel Grace Bostock (d.1942);
Sir Arthur Geoffrey Annesley Harmsworth, 3rd Bt. (1904–1980) by whom bequeathed to his godson Dr. Donald Roman;
By whom sold, Christie's London, 7 November 1995, lot 175;
Spink & Sons, London, April 1996

London, Agnew's & Sons, Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings by Peter de Wint, 1966, no.92

H. Smith, Peter de Wint 1784-1849, London, 1982, p.69, reproduced p.79, plate 74

The panel appears sound. There is craquelure across the surface and some hairline abrasions in the sky. Ultraviolet light reveals some infilling to the above mentioned abrasions in the sky. Held in a gilt plaster frame.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Widely regarded as one of the most influential exponents of the watercolour medium, Peter de Wint also, albeit rarely, utilised oil as a means of expressing the freshness of the English countryside. Identical in conception to three other haymaking subjects sold, London, Christie’s, 7 November 1995, lots 173-176, the format lends itself easily to the panoramic type of composition so effectively used here. Hammond Smith (see literature) dates the present work to 1814 and we can speculate that the other works were likewise executed on this tour around Lincolnshire, as can be deduced by the cathedral visible in the background of lot 176. The freedom of execution apparent in this lively sketch gives the subject an immediacy and vitality sometimes absent in his more formal work, whilst at the same time reflecting his by then, already accomplished watercolour technique.