Lot 35: Francis Towne (Middlesex 1739-1816 London)

Francis Towne (Middlesex 1739-1816 London) Villa Adriana, Tivoli, Italy signed, inscribed, dated and numbered 'No. 40 May 22 1781 Villa Adriano [sic] light on the right hand side afternoon Francis Towne' (on the verso) and with inscription '15 B.P.' (on the verso, in the hand of Paul Oppé) pen and black ink and watercolour 6 3/8 x 8¾in. (16.2 x 22.2 cm.)

Leeds, City Art Gallery, Exhibition of Early English Watercolours, 1958, no. 33. London, Lowndes Lodge Gallery, Pictures and Drawings from Yorkshire Houses, April 1963, no. 33.

A. Bury, Francis Towne: Lone Star of Water-Colour Painting, London, 1962, pp. 95 and 143. W.A. Worsley, Early English Water-Colours at Hovingham Hall, Hovingham, 1963, no. 68.

J.H. Merivale, and thence by descent. with Squire Gallery, London, where purchased by Sir William Worsley, 1953 (150 gns), and thence by descent in the family.