The Summit of Cader Idris Mountain

The Summit of Cader Idris Mountain
The Summit of Cader Idris Mountain
The Summit of Cader Idris Mountain
The Trustees of the British Museum
title=Credit line
Artist
Edward (1724-1774) & Michael 'Angelo' Rooker (1746-1801) after Wilson
Title
The Summit of Cader Idris Mountain
Date
Published 1775
Medium
Line engraving and etching
Dimensions
Metric: 404 x 543 mm
Imperial: 15 7/8 x 21 3/8 in.
Accession Number
1917,1208.2398
Wilson Online Reference
E22
Description
A mountain top with a pool surrounded by a natural semi-circle of rock which peaks in the centre A second slope rises on the right and there is a view across a mountain range to the left, beyond a broad chasm. A man is shown looking through a telescope, another man is sitting on the right with an open paper and a third man holds his horse.
Provenance
1917 donated by Nan Ino Cooper, Baroness Lucas of Crudwell and Lady Dingwall (1880-1958) of Wrest Park, Bedfordshire among 4651 prints and drawings given to the British Museum in memory of her brother, Auberon Thomas Herbert, 9th Baron Lucas (1876-1916).
Signature/inscription
Lettered below the image with the title in English and French, continuing 'in North Wales' and 'Richd, Wilson Pinxt, | E. & M. Rooker Sculpser[un]t'
Collectors' marks
[1] British Museum, Lady Lucas Gift (Lugt 1696)
Related Prints
E90 George Cooke after Wilson Cader Idris, The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth / Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru
Versions
See 'Links' tab
Related Paintings
P153 Llyn Cau, Cader Idris, Tate, London
P153A Llyn Cau, Cader Idris, Private Collection, Wales
P153B Llyn Cau, Cader Idris, Private Collection, England
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. The others are E27, E28, E29, E30 and E31. Solkin suggested that the present example and others from the series lacking Boydell's publication line may have been commissioned by Wilson before financial difficulties in the mid-1770s constrained him to sell the plates to Boydell. As Edward Rooker died in November 1774 the plate was presumably completed by his son.
Bibliography
R. Gough, Anecdotes of British Topography, London 1768, p. 603; Booth Notes Doc. 7; Pugh 2013, p. 1
More Information
An impression belonged to William Lock of Norbury and featured in his sale, Sotheby's London 3-7 May 1821 (619).