Lot 60: John Scarlett Davis (1804-1845)

Figures and a dog on the quayside, Paris, near the Pont Neuf signed 'J.S.Davis/1831' (lower left) and with inscription 'View on the Quay' (on the reverse) pencil, pen and brown ink and watercolour 61/4 x 41/2 in. (15.9 x 11.4) PROVENANCE Anon. sale, Christie's, London, 14 July 1987, lot 207. LITERATURE G. Bauer, Le SiŠcle d'Or de l'Aquarelle Anglaise, AnthŠse, 1998, p. 126, pl. 170, illustrated in colour. W. Hauptman, L'Age d'Or de l'Aquarelle Anglaise 1770-1900, Lausanne, 1999, p. 159, pl. 101, illustrated in colour. EXHIBITION Lausanne, Fondation de l'Hermitage, L'Age d'Or de l'Aquarelle Anglaise 1770-1900, 22 January - 24 May 1999, no. 101. NOTES A pencil drawing dated 1831 of the Pont Neuf from the Quai sold in these Rooms 13 December 1979, lot 34, as part of the collection of the late N.D. Newall. The pencil drawing shows the same steps and buildings as in the present watercolour but from a slightly different viewpoint. There is another version of this composition in the Ingram Collection. Davis spent some time studying at the Louvre and will surely have been familiar with the work of Bonington, to whom his work has sometimes been attributed. In 1830 he set off on extensive travels through France, Holland, Italy and Spain.