Lot 359: SIR JAMES THORNHILL

MELCOMBE REGIS 1675 - 1734 A DESIGN FOR A GARDEN HOUSE, DECORATED WITH MARBLE BUSTS, A MYTHOLOGICAL PAINTING AND A TERRESTRIAL GLOBE ON THE ROOF together with Two figures within an Architectural Setting, English School, circa 1740 Quantity: 2 The first pen and brown ink with grey wash over pencil; the second pen and black ink with grey wash over pencil The first: 183 by 174 mm; the second 157 by 168 mm

The first: Colonel Gould Weston; his sale, London, Christie's, 15 July 1958, lot 125, purchased by Ralph Holland, as part of an album

In his notes Ralph Holland suggested that the drawing by Thornhill connects to his work for Isaac Loader (b. 1653) at Deptford. Loader was an anchor-smith who, in 1701, was appointed Sheriff of Deptford. Ralph Thoresby (1658-1725) visited Loader’s home in 1714 and recorded that the ‘gardens are surprisingly fine and large: there are Mr Thornhill's paintings in the Bagnio, and other garden-houses.’1 Although several drawings connected to his project survive in Thornhill’s sketchbook at the British Museum, the house and its gardens have been destroyed.2 1. R. Thoresby, The Diary of Ralph Thoresby F.R.S. , London 1830, p. 237 2. E. Croft-Murray, Decorative Painting in England 1537-1837, vol. 1, London 1962, p. 267, no. 10