Anon. Ober Lahnstein on the Rhine after Samuel Prout

Miniatures after Prout & Bonington: Early 19th-century Watercolours

This watercolour is one of an exquisite set of miniaturised versions of Continental subjects after leading early 19th-century topographical artists, including Samuel Prout (1783–1852) and Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828)—in Italy, Switzerland, France and on the Rhine. Scaled down and executed in minute detail, they perfectly render the perspective and proportions of the originals that they are after. They are an impressive exercise in technical skill, whilst retaining the atmosphere and sense of place of the original topographical works.

As a collection, these watercolours interestingly show a commonality between these contemporaneous artists and their Continental topographical work—work which was often carried out for reproduction as plate illustrations in the popular landscape annuals of the day. Publications such as 'Heath's Picturesque Annual' (1832–45) and Jennings' 'Landscape Annual' series (1830–39) were a staple trade for aspiring artists of the time. Often called Books of Beauty, these newly popular annuals were lavishly produced, with high quality engravings and expensive bindings. Each illustration would focus on a notable architectural landmark or landscape feature, but equally important in the composition would be commonplace street scenes of old facades and human activity.

The paintings in this collection derive from an album dating from around the 1830s belonging to Edward Garstin (1794–1871), superintendent at Bengal, given to his daughter Louisa Charlotte Garstin in 1855. One of the works in the album is by William Henry Harriott (c.1790–1839) (born in India, whose mother was the talented 18th-century miniaturist Diana Hill (c.1760–1844)), but the author of these miniature watercolours is unconfirmed. It seems probable that the Garstins knew the young Harriott in India.