Edward Charles Williams (Attributed) Wooded River Landscape With Cottage, Fisher

c. 1850

This mid-19th-century oil painting attributed to British artist William Adolphus Knell (1805-1875) depicts a sailing yacht before a Mediterranean coastline. Knell was one of the lead...

This idyllic late 19th-century oil painting by English artist Edward William Cooke RA (1811-1880) depicts a west-country cove with two cottages, donkeys, figures, and fishing boats. Cooke was a highly renowned painter of marine scenes and landscapes who exhibited extensively at London’s Royal Academy. From our elevated vantage point, the view extends between two quaint cottages and across the beach before sweeping around the sandy coastline. Crystalline waters lap the shore, where moored craft rest. It’s an accomplished rendering of a challenging composition. It’s enhanced by trees, which essentially ‘frame’ the right side, while a wooded track provides interest on the left. Cooke was a keen admirer of the Dutch old masters, and the spirit of the Golden Age underpins this splendid work. In diaries, he recorded how he travelled by donkey to access elevated spots in the southwest, so it’s conceivable that he did so here. In his catalogue raisonné, it lists a work from the same year titled ‘Bay with Donkeys’. Born in Pentonville, London, Cooke was raised in the company of accomplished artists as both his father, George Cooke (1781-1834), and his uncle, William Bernard Cooke (1778-1855), were engravers. As such, they were associated with a circle of Victorian painters who aided Cooke’s early development. These included the highly regarded marine painter Clarkson Frederick Stanfield RA RBA (1793-1867), who provided frequent advice and inspiration. Indeed, as a teenager, Cooke produced numerous drawings after Stanfield’s works. A precocious talent, by the age of nine, he was already displaying an advanced understanding of engraving, particularly for ships, coupled with a natural, seemingly in-built skill as a draughtsman. Many of his early drawings depict pastoral landscapes after the masters, such as Nicolaes Berchem (1620-1683), Paulus Potter (1625-1654), and Karel Dujardin (1626-1678). In an extraordinary turn of events, in 1820, his advanced abilities led to his first commission when he provided botanical illustrations for John Loudon's 'Encyclopaedia of Plants’. These were followed by drawings published in the 'Botanical Cabinet...

This charming mid-19th-century oil painting attributed to English artist William Traies (1789-1872) depicts a picturesque river view with cascade, figures and cattle. Traies was an a...

This mid-19th-century oil painting attributed to Scottish artist William Clark of Greenock (1803-1883) depicts a fully-rigged British frigate sailing off Yarmouth and The Needles, Is...

Alexis De Leeuw Belgian, (1822-1900) A Winter’s Day Oil on panel, signed Image size: 10.25 inches x 14.25 inches Size including frame: 18 inches x 22 inches Provenance: Cooling Gall...

Adolphus Knell 19th-century English Warship at sea Owning in a 19th-century English fishing boat captured at sea circa 1880 by Adolphus Knell, with the sun rising or setting, offer...

19th century English landscape with Oak trees, a stream and sheep on a pathway. A wonderful classic English landscape dating from the middle of the 19th century. This style of paint...

Arthur Joseph Meadows British, (1843-1907) Livorno, Gulf of Genoa Oil on panel, signed & dated (18)98, with signed & inscribed label on reverse Image size: 9.75 inches x 11.75 inches Size including frame: 17.75 inches x 19.75 inches An attractive townscape depicting fruit sellers at the port of Livorno, Italy by Arthur Joseph Meadows. The scene shows the view looking across from the harbour wall to the church of Santa Caterina...