'An Ancient Tithe-Barn and Farm Buildings, near Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire', 1877; Boyce, George Price

An inscription on the back identifies the scene, and states it was 'painted on the spot in the autumn of 1877'. The architect Philip Webb, who accompanied Boyce on his visit to the barn, wrote to him fifteen years later: 'this drawing I thought to be one of your best pieces of good work, work in truth which was always good, and often quite perfect of its kind... an historic representation of what the Architects and others will soon destroy.' In fact, this important barn is now a protected building, and is open to the public. Boyce was a great friend of Rossetti and other Pre-Raphaelites, indeed we know a great deal about them from his diaries, and he derived from them his minute treatment of landscape and architecture and luminous colouring. The year of this painting, 1878, was significant for Boyce as he was finally elected a Member of the Old Water Colour Society; as a gentleman of independent means, he was not considered a 'professional' painter.

An inscription on the back of this watercolour identifies the scene and states that it was 'painted on the spot in the autumn of 1877'. George Price Boyce (1826-1897) was a great friend of the artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti and other members of the group of painters known as the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Indeed, we know a good deal about the Pre-Raphaelites from Boyce's diaries. Boyce derived from them the careful and minute attention to detail shown in his work. The Tithe Barn at Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire is a massive and celebrated survivor of medieval architecture. It was built in the early 14th century. The ‘tithe’ was the contribution in corn and other vegetables that every member of each English parish was obliged to make towards the maintenance of the parish’s church and priest.

175-1894