Snowden Hill

Snowden Hill
Snowden Hill
Snowden Hill
National Museum Wales, Cardiff
title=Credit line
Artist
William Woollett (1735-1785) after Wilson
Title
Snowden Hill
Date
Published by Boydell 17 July 1775
Medium
Engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
Metric: 362 x 521 mm
Imperial: 14 1/4 x 20 1/2 in.
Accession Number
NMW A 11003
Wilson Online Reference
E30B
Description
Landscape with a view of a peaked mountain between two other mountains, across a lake, with a few boats on the water and two men fishing in the foreground. There is a woman standing beside them and gnarled trees to either side.
Provenance
Given by Major F. Treharne James, 1921
Verso inscriptions
[1] Upper right, ink in an old hand: Prints
[2] Centre pencil in old hand inverted: Snowdon - North Wales by Wilson -
Related Drawings
D367 Study for Snowdon from Llyn Nantlle, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Versions
See 'Links' tab
Other impressions are at The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth / Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru (4609322, PA01143 and another unnumbered); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA (2 unnumbered); Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (33.A.6.149)
Related Paintings
P152 Snowdon from Llyn Nantlle, Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool
P152A Snowdon from Llyn Nantlle, Nottingham Castle Art Gallery and Museum, Nottingham
P152B Snowdon from Llyn Nantlle, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum, Ishikawa, Japan
Related Works by Other Artists
J.M.W. Turner, Buttermere Lake, with Part of Cromackwater, Cumberland, a Shower, RA 1798, Tate, London (N00460)
Critical commentary
This print is one of the set, Six Views in North and South Wales, all after Wilson, published by John Boydell in 1775. By the early 19th century the print had become difficult to obtain, as witnessed in Cambria Depicta by Edward Pugh who died in 1813: 'The late Mr. Wilson, R.A. chose this scene for the subject of a picture, which by connoisseurs was esteemed one of the most excellent of his performances. The print [...] is, as I believe, now become scarce.'
Previous Cat/Ref Nos
21.62
Bibliography
R. Gough, Anecdotes of British Topography, London 1768, p. 603; Edwards 1808, p. 88; E. Pugh, Cambria Depicta: A Tour through North Wales, 1816, p. 136; Fagan 1885, p. 39, cat. XCI, 2nd or 3rd State
More Information
An impression belonged to William Lock of Norbury and featured in his sale, Sotheby's London 3-7 May 1821 (619).
Condition/Conservation
Trimmed to edge of image with no lettering. Inlaid on modern cream paper. Overall condition good but staining along upper and lower edges verso.