Lot 16: George Pyne, A.R.W.S. , 1800-1884 peckwater quad, christ church, oxford watercolour over pencil heightened with boycolour

signed and dated l.l. G. Pyne 1851 watercolour over pencil heightened with boycolour

measurements note 19.5 by 28 cm.; 7 ¾ by 11 in.

George Pyne was the son of William Henry Pyne who, in turn was the son-in-law of John Varley. Like his relative by marriage he worked almost entirely in watercolour executing architectural, landscape and genre subjects. He exhibited between 1827 and 1843 and published several books discussing the technicalities of drawing and perspective.

Peckwater Quad is part of Christ Church, Oxford on the site of a medieval inn, which was run by the Peckwater family. The buildings, which include the library (to the right) and undergraduate accomodation date from the eighteenth century and were designed by Henry Aldrich (1648-1710).

David Scott attended Christ Church in Oxford where he read (Greats) classics and it is likely that this watercolour was one of the ones he recalled many years later, that he had purchased to furnish his undergraduate rooms. One of his more illustrious predecessors at Christ Church was Charles Dodgson, better known by his pen name, Lewis Carroll. He went up to Oxford in 1851, the year this watercolour was painted, but had to return home almost immediately following the sudden death of his mother. He was awarded a first in Honour Moderation before being awarded the Christ Church Mathematical lectureship, a post which he held for the next twenty-seven years. During these years, inspired by the Dean of Christ Church's daughter Alice Liddell, he wrote his famous novels.