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Description: John Constable, R.A. (East Bergholt 1776-1837 London)
A farm house among trees in the Lake District, near Borrowdale (?)
pencil and watercolour on paper
5 3/8 x 7 1/8 in. (13.6 x 18.1 cm.)

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Provenance: Sir Robert Witt (L. 2228b).
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 20 March 1979, lot 6.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 13 November 1980, lot 99.
with Spink, London.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 13 July 1989, lot 115.

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Exhibited: London, The Fine Art Society, July 1943, no. 42.

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Published: G. Reynolds, The Early Paintings and Drawings of John Constable, London, 1996, p. 106, no. 06.244, pl. 616.

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Notes: No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
Constable spent September and October of 1806 travelling in the Lake District. The loose handling of the watercolour in the present lot is typical of the works he painted on this tour, sketched outside and characterised by free, vigorous brushstrokes. Reynolds (op.cit.) lists the present watercolour among a number executed in and around Borrowdale, but does not explicitly suggest that this is the location of the farmhouse.