Jacopo Fabris

M.F. Faulder, London (according to a label on the reverse);

Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 18 December 1909, lot 117 (as Italian School, as a pair), for 11½ guineas, to Richardson;

Private collection, England;

Anonymous sale, Crewkerne, Lawrences Auctioneers, 18 January 2013, lot 1611 (as circle of Jacopo Fabris);

With Charles Beddington Ltd, London (as Jacopo Fabris);

From whom acquired by the present owner.

Jacopo Fabris (1689–1761) was a Venetian painter, architect, and decorator of German origin, celebrated for his work in theatrical decoration and veduta painting. He began his career young, working as a stage decorator of the Hamburg Theatre at fifteen, and later became a court painter in Karlsruhe, Germany, before settling in Copenhagen in 1742. 

A replica of lesser quality of this composition appeared on the art market in Vienna in 2006 as 'circle of Canaletto'.¹

¹ Anonymous sale, Vienna, Dorotheum, 4 October 2006, lot 54 (as circle of Canaletto).