drawing
- Museum number
- 1904,0819.2
- Description
-
Edinburgh Castle with golfers in foreground; castle in distance with figures playing golf on Bruntsfield Links in the foreground and onlookers to right and l. c.1746-7
Pen and grey ink and watercolour
- Production date
- 1746-1747
- Dimensions
-
Height: 291 millimetres
-
Width: 467 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- The golf course was identified as the Bruntsfield Links and dated to c.1746-7 in a recent book on golfing, 'A Swing through Time'. A similar view of Edinburgh Castle from Bruntsfield Links, thought depicting a different event, by Sandby is found in the National Gallery of Scotland, entitled "Horse Fair on Bruntsfield Links, Edinburgh" and dated 1750.
If c.1746-7, then according to I.T Henderson, this is the earliest representation of golfing in Scotland by at least thirty years.
Neil J B Laird (communication 10 March 2014) informs us that he believes the buildings in the background are the Golf Hotel and Golfhall/Foxton (not the present day Golf Tavern as it was identified in the description of these two buildings in the Tate Britain entry on their Turner sketch of a similar view of the Castle, Edinburgh from the Golf Ground (D13408)). The identical gable end and bay room of Golfhall can be seen clearly: the building was 'Feu'd by Town Council to James Brownhill in 1716 on wast land opposite Wright's House' and described as 'The great house with the Court, bowling green and garden called Foxtoun', aka Golfhall.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
1983, BM, 'Sporting Life', No. 115
2014 Jul-Oct, Scottish National Gallery, The Art of Golf
- Acquisition date
- 1904
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1904,0819.2
