From the Blog
News, stories and musings from the eclectic world of S&W.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Sign up to our newsletter for first look at new pictures, links to latest research and exclusive special offers, straight to your inbox.
Posted on 31 août 2023
As 'back to school' approaches, we are lifting our spirits today with new works from our fantastic collection of mid-century modern textile designs
Posted on 27 août 2023
I love this vivid little evocation of Whitby in 1870, not the archetypal shoreline or gothic abbey but the smoking, red-roofed life of the place
Posted on 22 août 2023
Newly listed Indian mica paintings this week include this joyous depiction of an elephant and howdah
Posted on 20 août 2023
Continuing our Indian theme this week, we have a new collection of impressive large portrait drawings by Mumbai artist Prakash Sonawane
Posted on 17 août 2023
Fascinating to consider that Rembrandt had a collection of more than two dozen Mughal paintings, from which he made pen and ink studies
Posted on 15 août 2023
Had to post this late 19th-century view of our very own Saxon church here in Bradford on Avon
Posted on 13 août 2023
Our Red Poppy still life from our new Josef Herman OBE RA (1911–2000) collection embodies the artist's experimentation with pastel
Posted on 10 août 2023
From what at first appears an unassuming sketch unfolds a story of one of the 18th century's most important feminists and a home at the centre of an alternative, bohemian social milieu of Regency England
Posted on 08 août 2023
A wonderfully atmospheric watercolour by Henry Robertson ARE (1848–1930) showing fishing boats on the Stade beach at Hastings
Posted on 06 août 2023
William 'Quaker' Pegg (1775–1851) is regarded by many as being the finest flower painter to have ever worked in ceramics
Posted on 03 août 2023
Our Conway collection records a number of English country houses in the late 19th century—often buildings that have since been demolished or much changed
Posted on 01 août 2023
New this week, a vivid collection of miniature mid-19th-century sketches in watercolour and bodycolour on blue paper after Masters such as Turner, Constable, Gainsborough and Rembrandt
Posted on 30 juillet 2023
A selection from our new collection of lithographs by Polish-British artist Josef Herman OBE RA (1911–2000)
Posted on 25 juillet 2023
This gorgeous watercolour is a rare example of the work of Erskine Edward Nicol (1868–1926), who had connections with 'The Glasgow Boys' and whose paintings recall the North African subjects of Scottish painter Arthur Melville (1855–1904)
Posted on 23 juillet 2023
A wonderfully civilised picnic 'between Croyde & Baggy Point', North Devon, 1866
Posted on 20 juillet 2023
Lovely watercolours from our Apollonia Griffith collection
Posted on 18 juillet 2023
For anyone heading south west for the summer, here is a lovely watercolour at Sennen, just a stone's throw from Land's End
Posted on 16 juillet 2023
We're in awe of the craftsmanship (or craftswomanship) in our newly listed pair of 18th-century silkwork embroideries
Posted on 13 juillet 2023
S&W Picture of the Month for July is this arresting, large portrait rendered with beautiful sensitivity by Octavius Oakley RWS (1800–1867)
Posted on 11 juillet 2023
John Hall Thorpe's joyful decorative style is instantly recognisable: think Mary Delany, pared back and infused with flattened forms of modernity for the interwar era
Posted on 09 juillet 2023
The naturalism with which George Cattermole RWS (1800–1868) rendered his historical subjects is quite breathtaking—our newly listed 'Grace at the Refectory' by Cattermole this week has allowed us to get up close and personal with his technique, combining watercolour and bodycolour to give the scene real depth
Posted on 04 juillet 2023
Our new pair of handpainted Berlin Woolwork designs tell an interesting story about the democratisation of embroidery
Posted on 02 juillet 2023
We have been vicariously off on our summer hols this week with our new collection of Edwardian travel sketches by Alice Horton
Posted on 27 juin 2023
A wonderful rustic subject by the Scottish artist Hector Chalmers (1849–1943)
Posted on 25 juin 2023
New this week, a collection of playful English illustrations spanning the period 1906 to 1936
Posted on 20 juin 2023
Gorgeous new florals from the circle of James Holland OWS (1799–1870)
Posted on 13 juin 2023
This lovely 1930s oil painting shows a leafy view in 'Church Street' in Enfield, north London
Posted on 11 juin 2023
This fine pair of drawings after the 18th-century Italian painter and engraver Giovanni Battista Cipriani RA (1727–1785) depict Hebe, the ancient Greek goddess of youth, and a Bacchante, a priestess or female followers of the god Bacchus
Posted on 01 juin 2023
This light-filled back street view in Port Isaac, on Cornwall's north coast, shows the celebrated St Ives painter John Anthony Park RBA ROI (1880–1962) working in a post-impressionistic style
Posted on 30 mai 2023
Feeling uplifted today by our new collection of brilliantly vibrant 1950s gouaches from the world travels of Ivy T. Attwell
Posted on 28 mai 2023
It's always interesting to see a really different view of a place—here looking towards the Isle of Wight from Southsea, Portsmouth
Posted on 23 mai 2023
There is mystery and mystique around the relocation of British artist Frank Hind to Granada, Spain in 1905 and his change of name to Francis Wallis-Markland—a curious story that adds to the other-worldly quality of his Symbolist inspired pastel renderings of Granada's gardens
Posted on 21 mai 2023
A gorgeous 19th-century kingfisher study, reminiscent of the bird studies in John Ruskin's teaching collection
Posted on 16 mai 2023
From our recent early 19th-century natural history collection associated with the Glegg family of Withington Hall, Cheshire
Posted on 14 mai 2023
A view from our window at Llandudno' by Elizabeth Wedderburn, from our new collection by the Wedderburn sisters, dating from the 1870s
Posted on 09 mai 2023
This striking collection of hand-drawn early 19th-century topographical observations has had me delving into the history of cartography
Posted on 07 mai 2023
Two rare works depicting Pembrokeshire landmarks by antiquarian Charles Norris (1779–1858), whose work is of importance in recording buildings that have subsequently been lost
Posted on 02 mai 2023
A selection from our delightful new collection of Japanese paintings on silk (or kenpon chakushoku), dating from towards the end of the Meiji period
Posted on 30 avril 2023
This elegant portrait sketch of a boy in profile by George Dance the Younger RA (1741–1825) is possibly the artist's youngest son, Charles Webb (1785–1844), aged thirteen
Posted on 02 avril 2023
Newly listed (and quickly sold), this wonderful Kosa school illustration, featuring the remarkable Japanese pigment 'gofun' or shell white: a form of calcite, calcium carbonate, made of crushed seashells, usually oyster shells
Posted on 29 mars 2023
Vibrant yet ethereal pictures that tell of the 'golden' age of British sea trade; a time when Britain was China's leading trading partner and had ambitions to push westwards from Shanghai up the Yangtze River
Posted on 28 mars 2023
Researching our John Thomas Serres sketch I got diverted by the story of his wife, Olivia Serres (1772–1834): also an artist but most famous—or infamous—for being 'an imposter'
