drawing
- Museum number
- 1958,0712.382
- Description
-
Llangollen from near the cottage of Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Ponsonby; mountainous landscape, a town viewed from a height, a large white house on a hill at left
Watercolour
- Production date
- 1749-1831
- Dimensions
-
Height: 135 millimetres
-
Width: 213 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Smith depicted Llangollen and its neighbouring area on several occasions: in the collection of the British Museum there are five views of the town or its valley (1958,07112.381-383, 1958,0712.370, 1958,07112.372) and in the National Library of Wales six other watercolours. The inscription here reveals one of the reasons why the town became a popular place for visitors in the late 18th century. From 1780, the white cottage on the left of this view, Plas Newydd, which they gradually transformed into a gothic revival fantasy, was the home of two Irish noblewomen from Kilkenny, who had left their families to avoid unwanted marriages: Lady Eleanor Butler (1739-1829) and Miss Sarah Ponsonby (1755-1831). In their Rousseauesque retirement, “The Ladies of Llangollen” and their extensive library attracted important visitors, including Robert Southey, William Wordsworth, Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, Sir Walter Scott, the Duke of Wellington and the industrialist Josiah Wedgwood (see the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography).
This watercolour is one of a group of 18 from the Lloyd Bequest; for more information about the group, see 1958,0712.368
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1958
- Acquisition notes
- This item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45. The British Museum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.
Unknown before bequeathed to BM. UNDER THE TERMS OF THE BEQUEST, NONE OF THE PRINTS OR DRAWINGS BEQUEATHED BY R. W. LLOYD MAY BE LENT OUTSIDE THE BRITISH MUSEUM (Registration Numbers 1958,0712.318 to 3149).
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1958,0712.382