Lot 29: William James , active 1730-1780 View of the Thames at Westminster oil on canvas, in a Carlo Maratta style gilded frame

oil on canvas, in a Carlo Maratta style gilded frame

measurements note 69 by 115.5 cm., 27 1/4 by 45 1/2 in.

This view depicted is that of the Thames in London, looking down the north bank towards Westminster Bridge, as it was in the mid-eighteenth century. The buildings depicted, from left to right, include Westminster Hall, Westminster Abbey, the Small Beer Buttery, with Whitehall Banqueting House behind, the Queen's Treasury, the Water Tower, York Stairs and the York Water Gate, the Office of the Commissioners of the Salt Tax, and finally the corner of the house of Sir Philip Botelier. Between the Abbey and the Buttery sit the houses of some of Britain's most prominent figures, including the Dukes of Richmond and of Montagu, the Countess of Portland, the Earl of Pembroke, Lady Townshend and Lord Grantham. Westminster Bridge was completed in 1750 and this picture was probably painted shortly afterwards. Certainly the light haze of smoke drifting from the chimneys of the York Buildings Waterworks, would suggest a date prior to 1755, when engines were abandoned in favour of horses. The foreground is dominated by a plethora of assorted craft. The congestion and bustle on the water gives a vivid impression of what it must have been like when the river was the main highway by which both people and goods travelled through London. The painting captures a forgotten scene from a time when the Thames, a source of fascination and inspiration to both artists and writers throughout the centuries, was the main artery of the capital.