Anon. Continental River with Bridge & Church

An original early 19th-century watercolour painting Continental River with Bridge & Church.

A beautiful early 19th-century watercolour.

This painting forms part of a collection of works that we have for sale dating from between the 1810s and the 1830s. Painted by a single anonymous hand, the landscape views typify the topographical subjects that could be found reproduced in the newly popular travel annuals of the time: views in Italy, Switzerland and on the Rhine.

Some of the scenes are identified as being after leading artists of the day, such as Samuel Prout (1783–1852) and François Alexandre Pernot (1793–1865). Many of the watercolours display the use of flat washes of colour, the innovative watercolour technique developed by John Varley (1778–1842) and John Sell Cotman (1782–1842) at the beginning of the century.