Lot 75: Thomas Sidney Cooper, R.A. , 1803-1902 Landscape and Cattle, View, Bingley Gate, near Canterbury oil on canvas

signed and dated l.r.: T S Cooper/ 1833 oil on canvas

measurements note 43 by 54 cm., 17 by 21 in.

London, Vicars Brothers;
Private collection

PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN
The painting is a version of Thomas Sidney Cooper's Society of British Artists exhibit of 1833 (Winter Exhibition 1833-34, no.8, Christie's, 11 June 2002, lot 160). The twin towers in the present picture are those of the Canterbury Westgate, with the tower of Holy Cross Church, within the city wall, seen to the right. 'Bingley Gate' is not identified on any maps or plans in the vicinity of Canterbury. However, the towers seen in the distance provide a visual aid to the location. The 'gate' appears to have been a local designation for the fording place from Bingley's Island, south west of the city wall, formed by tributaries of the River Stour.

Three other versions and an oil sketch of this work are catalogued. Three include a youth seated on a donkey herding the cattle through the ford, and one omits the youth and donkey and is very similar to the present composition. The latter differs only in a number of minor details, most notable in the foliage of the trees to the right. It also dates from 1833: The Watering Place (oil on canvas, 17 by 21in. signed and dated 1833, Sotheby's, Sussex, 24 October 1989, lot 300a, as Landscape and Cattle).

The predominant bull and cow in the foreground appear in a number of paintings, (including all of the 'Bingley Gate' compositions). The earliest located painting featuring the bull and cow is dated 1832 (Christie's, South Kensington, 6 September 2006, lot 105), and the last, a watercolour of 1849, (private collection).

Usually, similar versions were commissioned paintings following the appearance of exhibited works. Therefore, as the exhibition at the SBA continued into 1834 one would expect 'versions' to be dated to that year.

We are grateful to Kenneth Westwood for writing this catalogue entry.