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Hubert Cornish (Devon 1757-1832) The Orangery on Robert Thornton's estate at Clapham unframed
Hubert Cornish (Devon 1757-1832) The Orangery on Robert Thornton's estate at Clapham signed, inscribed and dated 'Clapham/The Greenhouse and park/of the grounds of Robt Thornton Esq/H. Cornish/1805' (on verso) black chalk and watercolour on wove paper laid onto card with the original washline border 26.5 x 37.2cm (10 7/16 x 14 5/8in). unframed Footnotes: Robert Thornton (1759-1826) was an MP and businessman from a mercantile family; his grandfather had bought land in Clapham close to what is now the common and when Robert inherited the property in 1790 he built a new house there. The miniature estate he created was a source of great pride to him as, aside from numerous trees and shrubs, the park included a grotto, a stream and the grandest possible greenhouse – the Orangery designed by his friend Dr Burgh of York (1741-1808) and constructed in 1792-3. The entablature was engraved with a quote from Virgil - HIC VER ASSIDUUM ATQUE ALIENIS MENSIBUS AESTAS, which translates as 'Here is eternal spring and summer all year round'. The columns enclosed vast sash windows that were unusually glazed in a brickwork pattern just discernible in the present watercolour. The Orangery was intended not only to house plants but for entertaining and it attracted numbers of visitors, including Queen Charlotte. All that remains today of the estate is the Orangery which now stands in the middle of the Notre Dame housing estate on Clapham South Side, so this watercolour is a rare surviving record of the building in its original surroundings in Thornton's pleasure gardens. Hubert Cornish went to India in 1797 as a civil servant, later becoming a judge in Bengal and he retired to Totnes in 1830. The present view was presumably painted while he was on leave in England in 1805. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing
Hubert Cornish (Devon 1757-1832) The Orangery on Robert Thornton's estate at Clapham signed, inscribed and dated 'Clapham/The Greenhouse and park/of the grounds of Robt Thornton Esq/H. Cornish/1805' (on verso) black chalk and watercolour on wove paper laid onto card with the original washline border 26.5 x 37.2cm (10 7/16 x 14 5/8in). unframed Footnotes: Robert Thornton (1759-1826) was an MP and businessman from a mercantile family; his grandfather had bought land in Clapham close to what is now the common and when Robert inherited the property in 1790 he built a new house there. The miniature estate he created was a source of great pride to him as, aside from numerous trees and shrubs, the park included a grotto, a stream and the grandest possible greenhouse – the Orangery designed by his friend Dr Burgh of York (1741-1808) and constructed in 1792-3. The entablature was engraved with a quote from Virgil - HIC VER ASSIDUUM ATQUE ALIENIS MENSIBUS AESTAS, which translates as 'Here is eternal spring and summer all year round'. The columns enclosed vast sash windows that were unusually glazed in a brickwork pattern just discernible in the present watercolour. The Orangery was intended not only to house plants but for entertaining and it attracted numbers of visitors, including Queen Charlotte. All that remains today of the estate is the Orangery which now stands in the middle of the Notre Dame housing estate on Clapham South Side, so this watercolour is a rare surviving record of the building in its original surroundings in Thornton's pleasure gardens. Hubert Cornish went to India in 1797 as a civil servant, later becoming a judge in Bengal and he retired to Totnes in 1830. The present view was presumably painted while he was on leave in England in 1805. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing
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