Early 19th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Eremita Camandolese is the title of a beautiful watercolour on ivory-colored paper by the old master Michela De Vito in 1820 ca. Hand-titled "Eremita Camandolese", in black ink on t...

Unsigned Provenance: Estate of the Artist Exhibited: I Don't Have Time to be Lonesome When I'm Painting: Emma Lane Payne 1857–1943 ... Cleveland Artists Foundation, June 22, 200...

An accomplished watercolour study depicting a woman on her knees in prayer. The piece is signed with Westall's monogram to the lower right. Presented in a part gilt frame. Label vers...

An accomplished watercolour study depicting a women reading a prayer book. The artist captures the woman's elaborate headdress and dress in fine detail. Signed with Westall's monogra...

A charming charcoal study depicting a woman in classical dress looking up with a distance, dreamy look. The artist captures the woman using delicate cross hating to highlight the con...

A fine watercolour study depicting a man, horse and dog bringing a cart back from town on a winding path. The artist demonstrates a great ability to portray distance in the different...

A charming watercolour in the manner of Francis Wheatley depicting a courting couple sat beneath a tree. The pair appear to be in the midst of an argument with the woman wiping tears...

A charming 19th Century watercolour depiction of the dramatic slaying of the dragon by Saint George. The artist's use of vibrant colour and delicate line work make this a true feast ...

A charming watercolour study of aworkhorse resting in a walled paddock. The cacti to the background suggests a Mediterranean environment. Faintly inscribed to the reverse of the wate...

A very fine early 19th Century Flemish School watercolour, showing a bearded man in a ragged tunic, with tangled hair. He gazes at the viewer with a patient eye as he holds his hat b...

A charming watercolour scene depicting a river flowing between banks with fallen trees. Perched on a rock in the center of the river a heron looks for fish in the stream. Signed and ...

A very fine watercolour portrait of a child and two infants, sitting on a velvet chair and cushion on a rose covered terrace. Dating to the Regency period, this remarkable work is be...

A very fine watercolour landscape in the style of esteemed painter and astrologer John Varley (1778-1842). Presented in a 19th-century gilt frame with beaded detailing to the inner w...

English School early 19th century, Portrait of two children, Pencil and light heightenings of white and red gouache 29.5 x 23 cm In quite good condition : the pape is yellowed by t...

A wonderfully fine 19th century watercolour depicting a ground of young children heading towards the shoreline for a day of fishing. The eldest boy holds a net and helps his two youn...

Coppia di disegni che rientra pienamente nella tipologia degli studi detti "Accademia", che quindi erano la base della formazione degli allievi che frequentavano le Accademie di Bell...

18th to 19th Century "Art Presentation" Old Master Drawing Remarkable old master pen, ink and wash drawing of an art presentation Dimensions 14" wide x 8.5" high The lightly distr...

Well presented in a simple black frame. Signed. On paper.

The River Barge Pen and ink on paper on laid paper, mounted in English drum mount , c. 1810 Unsigned Condition: Slight sun staining to sheet and mount in the window (see photo) Image/sheet size: 5 1/4 x 6 11/16 inches Sight: : 5-3/4 x 7-1/4" Frame: 13-3/8 x 14-3/8" Provenance: Colnaghi, London (see photo of label) David Cox (29 April 1783 – 7 June 1859) was an English landscape painter, one of the most important members of the Birmingham School of landscape artists and an early precursor of Impressionism. He is considered one of the greatest English landscape painters, and a major figure of the Golden age of English watercolour. Although most popularly known for his works in watercolour, he also painted over 300 works in oil towards the end of his career, now considered "one of the greatest, but least recognised, achievements of any British painter. His son, known as David Cox the Younger (1809-1885), was also a successful artist. Early life in Birmingham, 1783–1804 Cox's birthplace in Deritend, Birmingham, illustrated by Samuel Lines Cox was born on 29 April 1783 on Heath Mill Lane in Deritend, then an industrial suburb of Birmingham. His father was a blacksmith and whitesmith about whom little is known, except that he supplied components such as bayonets and barrels to the Birmingham gun trade. Cox's mother was the daughter of a farmer and miller from Small Heath to the east of Birmingham. Early biographers record that "she had had a better education than his father, and was a woman of superior intelligence and force of character." Cox was initially expected to follow his father into the metal trade and take over his forge, but his lack of physical strength led his family to seek opportunities for him to develop his interest in art, which is said to have first become apparent when the young Cox started painting paper kites while recovering from a broken leg. By the late 18th century Birmingham had developed a network of private academies teaching drawing and painting, established to support the needs of the town's manufacturers of luxury metal goods, but also encouraging education in fine art, and nurturing the distinctive tradition of landscape art of the Birmingham School. Cox initially enrolled in the academy of Joseph Barber in Great Charles Street, where fellow students included the artist Charles Barber and the engraver William Radclyffe, both of whom would become important lifelong friends. At the age of about 15 Cox was apprenticed to the Birmingham painter Albert Fielder, who produced portrait miniatures and paintings for the tops of snuffboxes from his workshop at 10 Parade in the northwest of the town. Early biographers of Cox record that he left his apprenticeship after Fielder's suicide, with one reporting that Cox himself discovered his master's hanging body, but this is probably a myth as Fielder is recorded at his address in Parade as late as 1825. At some time during mid-1800 Cox was given work by William Macready the elder at the Birmingham Theatre, initially as an assistant grinding colours and preparing canvases for the scene painters, but from 1801 painting scenery himself and by 1802 leading his own team of assistants and being credited in plays' publicity. London, 1804–1814 In 1804 Cox was promised work by the theatre impresario Philip Astley and moved to London, taking lodgings in 16 Bridge Row, Lambeth. Although he was unable to get employment at Astley's Amphitheatre it is likely that he had already decided to try to establish himself as a professional artist, and apart from a few private commissions for painting scenery his focus over the next few years was to be on painting and exhibiting watercolours. While living in London, Cox married his landlord's daughter, Mary Agg and the couple moved to Dulwich in 1808. David Cox Travellers on a Path, pencil and brown wash. In 1805 he made his first of many trips to Wales, with Charles Barber, his earliest dated watercolours are from this year. Throughout his lifetime he made numerous sketching tours to the Home Counties, North Wales, Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Devon. Cox exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy from 1805. His paintings never reached high prices, so he earned his living mainly as a drawing master. His first pupil, Colonel the Hon.H. Windsor (the future Earl of Plymouth) engaged him in 1808, Cox went on to acquire several other aristocratic and titled pupils. He also went on to write several books, including: Ackermanns' New Drawing Book (1809); A Series of Progressive Lessons (1811); Treatise on Landscape Painting (1813); and Progressive Lessons on Landscape (1816). The ninth and last edition of his series Progressive Lessons, was published in 1845. By 1810 he was elected President of the Associated Artists in Water Colour. In 1812, following the demise of the Associated Artists, he was elected as associate of the Society of Painters in Water Colour (the old Water Colour Society). He was elected a Member of the Society in 1813, and exhibited there every year (except 1815 and 1817) until his death. Hereford, 1814–1827 In the summer of 1813 Cox was appointed as the drawing master of the Royal Military College in Farnham, Surrey, but he resigned shortly afterwards, finding little sympathy with the atmosphere of a military institution. Soon after that he applied to a newspaper advertisement for a position as drawing master for Miss Crouchers' School for Young Ladies in Hereford and in Autumn 1814 moved to the town with his family. Cox taught at the school in Widemarsh Street until 1819, his substantial salary of £100 per year requiring only two-day's work per week, allowing time for painting and the taking of private pupils. Cox's reputation as both a painter and a teacher had been building over previous years, as indicated by his election as a member of the Society of Painters in Water Colours and his inclusion in John Hassell's 1813 book Aqua Pictura, which claimed to present works by "all of the most approved water coloured draftsmen". The depression that accompanied the end of the Napoleonic Wars had caused a contraction in the art market, however, and by 1814 Cox had been very short of money, requiring a loan from one of his pupils to pay even for the move to Hereford. Despite its financial advantages and its proximity to the scenery of North Wales and the Wye Valley, the move to Hereford marked a retreat in terms of his career as a painter: he sent few works to the annual exhibition of the Society of Painters in Water Colours during his first years away from London and not until 1823 would he again contribute more than 20 pictures. Between 1823 and 1826 he had Joseph Murray Ince as a pupil. London, 1827–1841 He made his first trip to the Continent, to Belgium and the Netherlands in 1826 and subsequently moved to London the following year. He exhibited for the first time with the Birmingham Society of Artists in 1829, and with the Liverpool Academy in 1831. In 1839, two of Cox's watercolours were bought from the Old Water Colour Society exhibition by the Marquis of Conynha for Queen Victoria. Birmingham, 1841–1859 Greenfield House in Harborne, Birmingham – where Cox lived from 1841 until his death in 1859 . In May 1840 Cox wrote to one of his Birmingham friends: "I am making preparations to sketch in oil, and also to paint, and it is my intention to spend most of my time in Birmingham for the purpose of practice". Cox had been considering a return to painting in oils since 1836 and in 1839 had taken lessons in oil painting from William James Müller, to whom he had been introduced by mutual friend George Arthur Fripp. Hostility between the Society of Painters in Water Colours and the Royal Academy made it difficult for an artist to be recognised for work in both watercolour and oil in London, however, and it is likely that Cox would have preferred to explore this new medium in the more supportive environment of his home town. By the early 1840s his income from sales of his watercolours was sufficient to allow him to abandon his work as a drawing master, and in June 1841 he moved with his wife to Greenfield House in Harborne, then a village on Birmingham's south western outskirts. It was this move that would enable the higher levels of freedom and experimentation that were to characterise his later work. The elderly Cox pictured by Samuel Bellin in 1855. In Harborne, Cox established a steady routine – working in watercolour in the morning and oils in the afternoon. He would visit London every spring to attend the major exhibitions, followed by one or more sketching excursions, continuing the pattern that he had established in the 1830s. From 1844 these tours evolved into a yearly trip to Betws-y-Coed in North Wales to work outdoors in both oil and watercolour, gradually becoming the focus for an annual summer artists colony that continued until 1856 with Cox as its "presiding genius". Cox's experience of trying to exhibit his oils in London was short and unsuccessful: in 1842 he made his only submission to the Society of British Artists; one oil painting was exhibited at each of the British Institution and the Royal Academy in 1843; and two oil paintings were exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1844 – the last that would be exhibited in London during his lifetime. Cox showed regularly at the Birmingham Society of Arts and its successor, the Birmingham Society of Artists, becoming a member in 1842. Cox suffered a stroke on 12 June 1853 that temporarily paralysed him, and permanently affected his eyesight, memory and coordination. By 1857 however, his eyesight had deteriorated. An exhibition of his work was arranged in 1858 by the Conversazione Society Hampstead, and in 1859 a retrospective exhibition was held at the German Gallery Bond Street, London. Cox died several months later. He was buried in the churchyard of St Peters, Harborne, Birmingham, under a chestnut tree, alongside his wife Mary. Work Early work In the spring of 1811 Cox made a small number of notable works in oils during a visit to Hastings with his family. It is not known why he didn't continue working in this medium at the time, but the five known surviving examples were described in 1969 as "surely some of the most brilliant examples of the genre in England". Mature work Cox reached artistic maturity after his move to Hereford in 1814. Although only two major watercolours can confidently be traced to the period between Cox's arrival in the town and the end of the decade, both of these – Butcher's Row, Hereford of 1815 and Lugg Meadows, near Hereford of 1817 – mark advances on his earlier work. Later work Cox's later work produced after his move to Birmingham in 1841 was marked by simplification, abstraction and a stripping down of detail. His art of the period combined the breadth and weight characteristic of the earlier English watercolour school, together with a boldness and freedom of expression comparable to later impressionism. His concern with capturing the fleeting nature of weather, atmosphere and light was similar to that of John Constable, but Cox stood apart from the older painter's focus on capturing material detail, instead employing a high degree of generalisation and a focus on overall effect. The quest for character over precision in representing nature was an established characteristic of the Birmingham School of landscape artists with which Cox had been associated early in his life, and as early as 1810 Cox's work had been criticised for its "sketchiness of finish" and "cloudy confusion of objects", which were held to betray "the coarseness of scene-painting". During the 1840s and 1850s Cox took this "peculiar manner" to new extremes, incorporating the techniques of the sketch into his finished works to a far greater degree. Cox's watercolour technique of the 1840s was sufficiently different from his earlier methods to need explanation to his son in 1842, despite the fact that his son had been helping him teach and paint since 1827. The materials used for his later works in watercolour also differed from his earlier periods: he used black chalk instead of graphite pencil as his primary drawing medium, and the rough and absorbent "Scotch" wrapping paper for which he became well-known – both of these were related to his development of a rougher and freer style. Influence and legacy By the 1840s Cox, alongside Peter De Wint and Copley Fielding, had become recognised as one of the leading figures of the English landscape watercolour style of the first half of the 19th century. This judgement was complicated by reaction to the rougher and bolder style of Cox's later Birmingham work, which was widely ignored or condemned. While by this time De Wint and Fielding were essentially continuing in a long-established tradition, Cox was creating a new one. A group of young artists working in Cox's watercolour style emerged well before his death, including William Bennett, David Hall McKewan and Cox's son David Cox Jr. By 1850 Bennett in particular had become recognised as "perhaps the most distinguished among the landscape painters" for his Cox-like vigorous and decisive style. Such early followers concentrated on the example of Cox's more moderate earlier work and steered clear of what were then seen as the excesses of Cox's later years. During a period dominated by sleek and detailed picturesque landscape, however, they were still condemned by publications such as The Spectator as "the 'blottesque' school", and failed to establish themselves as a cohesive movement. John Ruskin in 1857 condemned the work of the Society of Painters in Water-colours as "a kind of potted art, of an agreeable flavour, suppliable and taxable as a patented commodity", excluding only the late work of Cox, about which he wrote "there is not any other landscape which comes near these works of David Cox in simplicity or seriousness". An 1881 book, A Biography of David Cox: With Remarks on His Works and Genius, was based on a manuscript by Cox's friend William Hall, edited and expanded by John Thackray Bunce, editor of the Birmingham Daily Post. There are two Blue Plaque memorials commemorating him at 116 Greenfield Road, Harborne, Birmingham, and at 34 Foxley Road, Kennington, London, SW9, where he lived from 1827. It can also be seen at the David Cox exhibition in Birmingham. His pupils included Birmingham architectural artist, Allen Edward...

An early 19th century comical ink sketch of a drunken tavern drinker waving at the innkeeper's wife. The charming illustration is immaculately presented in a wash-line mount and cont...

A striking early 19th Century portrait in charcoal, showing an elegant young woman. Her dress and the style of her hair date this portrait around 1830. Her soft, sloping shoulders an...

A wonderfully atmospheric 19th century watercolour study of the Northumberland cost. Typically English weather hampers the efforts of some fishermen getting out to sea. Figures can b...

A charming watercolour study of a sweeping coastline. In the foreground figures sit on the beach and look out to sea. Unsigned. Artist name inscribed verso. Presented in a gilt frame...

A charming landscape scene depicting a mill on the river's edge. The artist captures the scene in fine detail, with the delicate painting of the trees and foliage being very indicati...

A charming watercolour scene depicting a mountain lake with cattle in the shallow water. the artist captures the landscape in fine detail from the foreground foliage to the distant m...

Attributed to Antony Vandyke Copley Fielding (1787 - 1855) Dinan Tour de l’Horloge (Dinan Clock Tower) Watercolour 28 x 21 cm A spirited watercolour of Dinan, Brittany. Dinan's famo...

A delightful early 19th-century graphite and watercolour study of agricultural equipment. Inscribed with the location 'Delphi and the date 1834', Cromek was known to have been tourin...

To see our other views and maps of England, Wales and Scotland - including London, Oxford and Cambridge, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from th...

Important period red chalck watercolor pencil drawing with neoclassical subject. Depicting the Atilius Regulus departing for Carthage. Atilius Regulus was a Roman statesman taken pri...

Pen and ink drawing on laid paper by British Master George Romney. The expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, circa 1770 The Royal Academy in London has a collection of pen and ink drawings on laid paper by George Romney which appear to be from the same period. This is double sided work which causes a shadow on the front. Provenance: Collection of Alfred de Pass The Truro Museum, Cornwall, England Christopher Powney, London Private Collection, CT Christopher Powney of Berwick Fine Art, dated 25 August 1967, authenticated this work. The original letter is included on back of the framed work. Christopher Powney was a London fine art dealer known for his expertise in British Drawings. He is recognized by the British Museum as a London art dealer...

To see our other views and maps of England, Wales and Scotland - including London, Oxford and Cambridge, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from th...

To see our other views of Oxford and Cambridge , particularly suitable for wedding and graduation presents, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from...

To see our other views of Oxford and Cambridge , particularly suitable for wedding and graduation presents, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from...

Pair of antique classical French salon drawings. Charcoal on paper. Illegibly signed. In giltwood frames, early 19th century. # grand tour

Work on paper Stamp of the workshop of O. Vautier Dimension of the passe-partout framing 52.5 x 38 cm Otto Vautier is a renowned Swiss painter, born in 1...

[CHINESE SCHOOL]. Chinese Craft on the Pearl River. Canton, circa 1810. Pencil, water colour and body colour drawings of craft, heightened with white on paper watermarked ‘J Whatm...

Early 19th Century French Graphite "New Year Baby" With Basket of Fruit C.1820 Charming antique pencil drawing The baby with a basket of fruit...

[CHINESE SCHOOL]. Chinese Craft on the Pearl River. Canton, circa 1810. A pencil, water colour and body colour drawing of craft, heightened with white on paper watermarked ‘J Whatm...

[CHINESE SCHOOL]. Chinese Craft on the Pearl River. Canton, circa 1810. A pencil, water colour and body colour drawing of craft, heightened with white on paper watermarked ‘J Whatm...

A delightful watercolour and pencil study depicting Grundy Walker, brother of Richard Walker M.P. of Notting Hill. Signed, dated and inscribed with location. Part of a pair of portra...

Rare framed and matted antique Chinese painting of fish. Painted on pith paper with gouache in bold colors in a scholastic style. Having the expected ...

Charcoal and grey wash on paper Image size: 14 3/4 x 13 3/4 inches (37.5 x 36 cm) Hand made gilt frame Provenance Private collection, Washington DC. C.G. Sloan & Co., Sept. 1980. T...

Rare framed and matted antique Chinese painting of fish. Painted on pith paper with gouache in bold colors in a scholastic style. Having the expected ...

GIUSEPPE BOSSI (1777-1815) Studies of seated figures Pen and ink on paper 18 x 14 cm Provenance: Private collection, France Giuseppe Bossi was an Italian Neoclassical painter, dra...

"View of Chequers Court" is an original pencil, pen, and ink drawing by Fiennes Trotman. This drawing was part of the Rothschild collection, and it fea...

Artist: Catherine Board (English, Active Early 19th Century) Title: "Swans" *Signed by Board lower right. It is also signed and dated by Board at lower right on verso Circa: 1820 Med...

French School picture circa 1790-1810, the landscape depicts a group of fishermen and appear to be preparing for the journey out to sea, there are fishing boats with nets suggesting ...

Inscribed beneath the mount: 'The Goscar Rock from the North Beach, Tenby. Aug 31st 1835.' Inscribed to the lower left: 'Copied from Miss Womley.'

Village is a Black Ink Drawing attributed to Nishimura Nantei in the Early 19th Century. Good conditions. The artwork is depicted through soft strokes in a well-balanced composition.

Study of Figures is a Pencil Drawing realized in the early 19th Century by Hortense Haudebort-Lescot (1784-1845). Good condition with foxing on the margins. Stamped on the lower left corner. Antoinette-Cécile-Hortense Haudebourt-Lescot (14 December 1784 – 2 January 1845) was a French...

Jules COIGNET Paris 1798-1860 Torrent in the Alps Watercolor and brown ink wash Signed lower left 18 x 26.5 cm 29.5 x 37.5 cm framed Condition: Remarkably fresh Period frame and gl...

Richard III is an original ink and watercolor drawing realized by Charles Amelot (1759-1830). Good condition, included a white cardboard passpartout (37.5x55 cm). The artwork repre...

A charismatic study of a young man and a fox trap in a mountainous landscape. Unsigned. Presented in varnished wooden frame. On paper.

Wounded Warrior is an orginal China Ink Drawing realized by Johns Fredrik von Breda (1788-1835) on early 19th century. Very good condition included a white cardboard passpartout (29...

A delicate pastel portrait depicting a member of the Danken Family. Inscribed to the reverse in Western Frisian. Unsigned. On velum.

View of Champ de Mars is an original drawing in Pencil on paper realized by an anonymous artist in the 1826. Good Conditions. The artwork is depicted through free strokes in a well...

Figures is original drawing in pencil on ivory-colored paper realized by an anonymous artist in early 20th Century. Hand-signed on the lower, illegible. Good conditions except for ...

Il disegno, sanguigna su carta, raffigura un uomo nudo con una specie di turbante sulla testa, preso di lato, seduto, in un'espressione di intensa sofferenza, come se stesse chiedend...

Hunter is an original Watercolor drawing on ivory colored stuck on paper, 1820 c.a. Not signed. This Artwork is attributed to Michela De Vito. Representing a man in typical Neapolit...

The Scribe is an original Modern artwork realized in the first decades of the XIX Century. Original Ink and Watercolor on paper. Mint conditions. Beaut...