Snowden Hill and the adjacent Country in North Wales

Snowden Hill and the adjacent Country in North Wales
Snowden Hill and the adjacent Country in North Wales
Snowden Hill and the adjacent Country in North Wales
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
title=Credit line
Artist
William Woollett (1735-1785) after Wilson
Title
Snowden Hill and the adjacent Country in North Wales
Date
Published by Boydell 17 July 1775
Medium
Line engraving and etching with hand colouring on moderately thick, moderately textured, cream laid paper
Dimensions
Metric: Sheet: 400 x 543 mm
Imperial: Sheet: 15 3/4 x 21 3/8 in.
Accession Number
B1977.14.14577
Wilson Online Reference
E30A
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
Acquired 1977
Signature/inscription
Lettered below the image:
[1] Lower left: 'Richard Wilson Pinxt.' | 'SNOWDEN HILL, | and the adjacent Country in North Wales.'
[2] Lower right: 'William Woollett Sculpt.' | 'LE MONTAGNE DE SNOWDEN, | avec ses Environs dans la Principauté de Galles.'
Inscribed faintly in graphite, lower right [illegible]
Collectors' marks
[1] Paul Mellon
Verso inscriptions
[1] Graphite, lower left: '16399 / 9 4/20'
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
Object ID: 40407
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 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 platemark and inlaid on card backing