Preview
Creation Date
March 1, 1780
Geography
London, England
Culture
English
Medium
Etching with engraving
Dimensions
With frame: 9 1/4 × 11 1/8 × 7/8 in. (23.5 × 28.2 × 2.1 cm)
Credit Line
Long-term Loan from the Estate of Boris Blick, 2015
Accession Number
2015.40
Provenance
According to Professor Sarah Blick, this print was purchased by Boris Blick from Stagecoach Antiques (now closed) in Akron, Ohio.
According to a sticker on the back of the frame, this print once belonged to W. King Ambler Old Prints and Maps, now the Ambler Art Group which specializes in “luxury wall decor.” The company was started by W. King Ambler who collected antique books during his travels to Europe. He later broke the books apart and sold them to furniture accounts with which he worked. The sticker on this print states that it was styled for The Cabinet Shop.
Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings
Above image, upper right: "Plate 78."
Beneath image, lower left: "P.Sandby R.A pinxṭ"; lower right, "J.Roberts sculp."
In bottom margin, lower center: "Ruins of an Abbey near Trim-Caſtle, Ireland. / Published as the Act directs, by G.Kearsby, in Fleet Street, March 1st. 1780."
Sticker on back of frame, upper center: "Styled for: THE CABINET SHOP / Registered No. 2302 002 Circa 1787 / PUBLISHED BY JOHN / AND JOSIAH BOYDELL / AT THE SHAKESPEARE GALLERY / An engraving of the Seats / of the Nobility and Gentry / of Great Britain and Whales, / after eminent artists. / W. King Ambler / Old Prints and Maps"
Creator Biography
Paul Sandby R.A., English, 1731–1809 (painter).
John Roberts, fl. 1760s–1800 (engraver).
George Kearsley the elder, English, 1739–1790 (publisher).
Description
Two figures on horses, a woman carrying a basket on her head and at her hip, and a shepherd walk on a dirt path in the foreground. The ruins of a tower stand to the right of the composition, with a river and a bridge separating the figures from the rest of the ruins in the background. Rays of sunlight stream through parted clouds.
According to the Royal Academy of Arts (RA), this print (labeled Plate 78), as well as 2015.41, are from The virtuosi's museum : containing select views, in England, Scotland and Ireland / drawn by P. Sandby (06/1329). The book was published by George Kearsley in London, with plates dated between 1778 and 1781.
According to a sticker on the back of the frame, this print was published by John Boydell (1719–1804) and Josiah Boydell (1752–1817) at The Shakespeare Gallery. Opened in 1789 and closing in 1805, the Boydells commissioned paintings inspired by Shakespeare’s works and published engravings of those paintings. An endeavor undertaken at the end of his life, John Boydell had previously found success selling engravings of famous art collections to buyers in England and abroad.