drawing
- Museum number
- G,6.25
- Description
-
The Piazza, Covent Garden; view towards the east from the middle of the northern arcade, beneath which are sedan-chairs and figures, in the mid-distance, a man carrying boxes on a pole, and beyond, various stalls and figures. 1770
Pen and grey ink and wash, with watercolour
- Production date
- 1770
- Dimensions
-
Height: 520 millimetres
-
Width: 675 millimetres
- Curator's comments
- The drawing must date from early in 1770 when, on 22 March, a performance of 'The Earl of Warwick' took place at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden for the benefit of Mrs Yates (see G. W. Stone, The London Stage, 1747-76, 1960, p.1463); the performance is advertised on a sheet on one of the arches. The overall design, however, corresponds to that of a print of 1768 by Edward Rooker after Thomas Sandby, and of a watercolour in the Guildhall Library. There are differences both in the figures and in architectural detail including, most notably, the houses at the southern end of the east side of the square (to the right of the drawing) which are shown as they appeared after a fire in 1769, that is, without the arcade which is shown in the print. Some figures appear elsewhere in studies by Paul Sandby, for instance, the woman selling cherries in the market area appears in a drawing at the Yale Center for British Art.
For a note on Crowle's extra-illustrated Pennant, see G.1.1
For other drawings of the Covent Garden piazza, see G,6.24, G,6.26 & 1904,0819.415.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
1953 Aug BM, P&D, 'Canaletto and the English draughtsmen', no.14
1968 BM, Piranesi, no.53
1986 Jun-Oct, V&A, 'Sandby', no. 52
2003 May-Nov, BM, London 1753, no. 3.4
- Acquisition date
- 1859
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- G,6.25
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: Crowle Pennant,VI.25