Drawing, Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk, by John Constable, sepia wash drawing, ca.1830

A sepia sketch of the village of Stoke-by-Nayland, with the church tower dominating the composition. Hills and a cloudy sky in the background.

This sepia sketch is closely connected with the oil sketch of the same scene (150-1888, Reynolds cat. no. 330) and with the published state of the mezzotint 'Stoke by Neyland [sic]' by David Lucas. It appears to be a studio composition rather than a study from nature; the church tower does not resemble that at Stoke-by-Nayland and the hill is not topographically exact. The drawing may in fact have been made when there was some intention of generalising the scene into that of a church in a village.

Historical significance: This sketch, together with Reynolds cat. nos. 17-20, was one of the only drawings by Constable in the Museum before the gifst made by Miss Isabel Constable, his last surviving daughter, in 1888. It was purchased from Messrs. Hogarth and Sons in May 1876.

‘In 1830 Constable was a member of the Hanging Committee of the Royal Academy (see the note to No. 321 [FA 38] above). He exhibited views of Helmingham Park and Hampstead Heath and another landscape at the Royal Academy. The first number of English Landscape Scenery was published in June or July.’

[G Reynolds, 1973, p.198]

This is one of several works by Constable after which David Lucas engraved mezzotints, published in 1831.

Constable departed from his usual practice of sketching from nature in this depiction of Stoke-by-Nayland by moonlight. This studio composition alters the height and shape of the church tower, as well as the shape of the hill in the background. It is possible he intended to make a generalised image that could be taken for any church and village, rather than a specific site. Ironically, a mezzotint engraving made after this drawing by David Lucas is more topographically exact.

261-1876