C.B. Pearson Guildford Castle, Surrey

C.B. Pearson: 1820s Graphite Drawings

This drawing forms part of an interesting collection of works in graphite we have for sale by the same hand. The pictures date from between 1817 and 1823, and their subjects are principally focused around Surrey and Thames locations. At the time these were drawn, these landscapes were markedly rural, affording opportunity for studies in foliage, the rustic and picturesque. A number are studies after engravings, or have the appearance of being possibly preparatory studies for prints.

The drawings are by a C.B. Pearson; it is possible that they are the work of the young Cornelius Pearson (1805–1891), a prolific landscape and topographical painter and also a copperplate engraver. Pearson was born at Boston in Lincolnshire but moved to London at a young age, where he was apprenticed to an engraver. He exhibited 145 works at the Royal Society of British Artists, and further exhibited at the Royal Academy and New Watercolour Society. He was one of the oldest members of the Langham Sketching Club. Pearson painted many watercolours of the Thames valley, as well as further afield, including scenes in Wales, the Lake District, Scotland and Devon.