Anon. Figure Studies, Woman Carrying Basket on Head, Italy

Tour of Italy & Beyond: Mid-19th-century Watercolours & Drawings

This picture forms part of a charming collection of works that we have for sale by an anonymous 19th-century hand. Our artist evidently travelled on the Continent in the mid-19th century, painting the iconic Grand Tour sites that he or she encountered. The collection begins in Switzerland in 1839, then moves on to Italy in 1840, where sites are wide-ranging: from Livorno in Liguria, Lake Como and the Alps at Lombardy in the north, to the Roman Forum and Roman Campagna, then south to Naples, Pompeii and the Amalfi coast.

As well as capturing landmarks such as churches, fountains and bridges, there are interesting paintings of local figures and folk customs, such as the pifferari—wandering shepherd musicians, who would come down from the campagna to Rome (and also in other areas such as Naples), equipped with bagpipes and pifferi (a kind of oboe), to perform devout concerts in front of images of the Madonna. Our artist's paintings document their distinctive dress, in broad collar coats and pointed hats. There are also paintings of local women carrying baskets and barrels on their heads, a method of carrying evident since medieval times which had largely been abandoned in the West by the mid-19th century, but persisted in rural areas.

Later paintings in the collection date from the 1870s, when our artist travelled in the UK, to Wales and the Isle of Wight, and abroad to Brittany, Normandy, Belgium and Germany's Black Forest. Views at Bramley in Surrey, dated 1871, possibly indicate that the artist lived in this area at that time.