William Traies (Attributed), Wooded River Landscape With Cascade & Figures

c. 1840

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 late 19th-century oil painting by British painter George William Mote (1832-1909) depicts a shepherd and his flock before an extensive view across the Surrey countryside near Gu...

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...

Clement Nye Swift "Breton Chores" 1870 Oil on Canvas Signed and Dated Lower Right Canvas Size: approx 27 x18 inches Framed Size: approx 34 x 35 inches Provenance: Private Midwes...

Georgina Lara British, (fl. 1862-1871) A Busy Village Oil on canvas Image size: 11.75 inches x 19.25 inches Size including frame: 16.25 inches x 24.25 inches Provenance: Cooling Galleries, Bond Street, London A pleasing village scene featuring figures, horse and other animals in a village square. To the left, a team of horses with a hay cart can be seen resting whilst a group of people chat outside a village store. In the foreground a group of children play marbles by a dog as two women chat by a log. Meanwhile, a horse and cart is shown entering the village alongside a barn. Georgina Lara also known as Edwina Lara was a London painter of rustic farmyard and village scenes. Her work also closely resembles that of Edward Masters...

Walter Williams British, (1834-1906) Harvest Field at Sunset, Clayton near Brighton Sussex Oil on canvas, signed Image size: 15.5 inches x 23.5 inches Size including frame: 21.5 inc...

This late 19th-century maritime painting by George Stainton captures the dramatic return of a fishing boat to harbor, skillfully portraying the power of the sea and the resilience of...