Sketch of a plough at Epsom.

Physical description

Pencil sketch of a plough.

Place of Origin

Epsom, England (made)

Date

24 September 1831 (made)

Artist/maker

John Constable, born 1776 - died 1837 (artist)

Materials and Techniques

pencil on paper

Marks and inscriptions

'Epsom Sepr 24 1831. Saturday Morng.'
'Epsom Sep 24'
'Surrey Plough Double Tom'
'Epsom--House in which Ld Littleton saw the Goast--which bikened him--& named the precise hour in which he was to die--& he died at that hour--though they put the clock forward.'

Dimensions

Height: 11.4 cm, Width: 19.1 cm

Historical context note

'In 1831 Constable exhibited at the Royal Academy 'Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows' (now in the collection of Lord Ashton of Hyde) and 'Yarmouth Pier'. He was present in the Abbey at the Coronation of William IV on 8 September (see No. 240 [218-1888]), and in the same month he paid a brief visit to Mr. Digby Neave at Epsom.'

[G Reynolds, 1973, p.202]

Descriptive line

Pencil drawing, 'Sketch of a plough at Epsom' by Constable.

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

Catalogue of the Constable Collection, Graham Reynolds, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1973, pp. 202, 203, 209-210
The following is an extract from the text of the entry:
“Page from a sketch-book.

The second part of the inscription on the back relates to the drawing on the next page of the sketch-book, No. 337 [236-1888]. Constable again refers to the story of the ghost which announced the hour of Lord Lyttelton's death in his letter of 26 September 1831 to Leslie (L. ed. S., pp. 265, 266, with Leslie's note on p. 265):
"I have been passing a day or two with Digby Neave at Epsom. I slept on Friday night in the room in which Lord Lyttelton saw the ghost. But I neither saw nor heard anything of the lady or the bird". In fact, Lord Lyttelton is said to have seen the ghost in his house in Hill Street, Berkeley Square (Dictionary of National Biography), but to have died at Pitt Place, Epsom, where Constable was staying when he drew Nos. 336 [304-1888] and 337 [236-1888].

Note on Nos. 336-340 and 346-350 [304-1888, 236-1888, 221-1888, 232-1888, 345-1888, 229-1888, 237-1888, 189-1888, 233-1888, 347-1888]

As the measurements and, where they exist, the watermarks show, Nos. 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 346, 347, 348, 349 and 350 [see above] all come from the same sketch-book, which measures approximately 115 x 190 mm. and consists of Whatman paper of 1831. The book was first used by Constable, as far as is known, on his visit to Mr. Digby Neave at Epsom in 1831 (Nos. 336 and 337 [304-1888 and 236-1888]). He used it again on his summer visit to East Bergholt in July 1832 (Nos. 338 and 339 [221-1888 and 232-1888]). A drawing in the British Museum (No. L.B. 19a, 112 x 188 mm.) is also dated from East Bergholt on 31 July 1832 and comes from the same sketch-book. He then took it to Englefield House (No. 340 [345-1888]) and the drawing of Theal, Berkshire, made on 25 August 1832, in the British Museum (No. L.B. 25a, 113 x 188 mm.), was made on this visit in the same book. Constable again took it with him to East Bergholt when he attended the funeral there of his friend John Dunthorne on 9 November 1832 (Beckett, I, p. 270) (No. 346 [229-1888]). The undated sheets from the book may be assumed to have been drawn whilst he was on one or other of these expeditions, or made near them in date. In particular, No. 347 [237-1888] may be taken to have been drawn on one of the two visits to East Bergholt, since the subject is so exactly in line with Constable's other studies and paintings of barges on the Stour. It may be presumed that Nos. 348 and 349 [189-1888 and 233-1888] represent scenes in the same vicinity. No. 350 [347-1888] is exceptional in the group, in being carried out in pencil and water-colour. Three undated drawings in the British Museum which appear from their style, subject matter and measurements to be from the same book are:

L.B. 14 Men with a cart. (111 x 181 mm.)
L.B. 25b House among trees. (112 x 188 mm.)
L.B. 28a Landscape with trees and cattle. (111 x 187 mm.)”

Exhibition History

Constable: a breath of fresh air (The Millennium Galleries, Sheffield 08/02/2003-27/04/2003)
John Constable, selected by Lucian Freud (Grand Palais 10/10/2002-13/01/2003)

Materials

Paper; Pencil

Subjects depicted

Plough; Epsom

Collection code

PDP