Lot 61: View of a broad valley with a distant settlement

Raphael Lamar West (1769-1850)
View of a broad valley with a distant settlement
pen and black ink, watermark Strasburg lily, unframed
13¾ x 19¼ in. (35 x 48.9 cm.)

The artist's family, and by descent to
Mrs P. Howard; Sotheby's, London, 22 March 1979, part of lot 39, where purchased by the present owner.

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 17.5% on the buyer's premium.
This drawing almost certainly relates to Raphael's trip to New York State in 1798 (see lot 60), although the name of this valley and the small town in its midst are unknown. It is an excellent example of Raphael's precise, documentary draughtsmanship: the vegetation on the far mountain-slopes is indicated with speckling, and Raphael has recorded not only the details of towers and spires in the township in the middle-ground, but also the figures of a ploughman and his team working in a nearby field.