Cooke's 'Views in Sussex'
Print
1819 (engraved)
1819 (engraved)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Engraving depicting Brightling Observatory
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Titles |
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| Materials and techniques | Line engraving on copper |
| Brief description | Engraving by W. B. Cooke entitled 'Brightling Observatory, from Rosehill Park', for the publication Cooke's 'Views in Sussex' (1816-1820), after a drawing by J. M. W. Turner. Great Britain, 1819. (Mummery Bequest). |
| Physical description | Engraving depicting Brightling Observatory |
| Credit line | Bequeathed by Horace Mummery |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Places depicted | |
| Bibliographic reference | Designed by Sir Robert Smirke for Jack Fuller in 1810, the Brightling Observatory was completed in 1818. It is located on the Brightling-Burwash road near Eastbourne and is now a private residence. The Observatory was equipped with the most modern equipment of the day, including a Camera Obscura and instruments constructed by Negretti and Zambra, the celebrated Victorian makers of meteorological and photographic devices.
It is commonly believed that Fuller's inspiration for building the Observatory came from his friend and noted astronomer Sir William Herschel. Born Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel in Germany, Herschel is perhaps best known for his discovery of the planet Uranus in 1781.
Fuller had inherited estates in Sussex and plantations in Jamaica, so as a wealthy man, in 1828, he financed the building of the Belle Tout lighthouse, on the cliff at Beachy Head, near Eastbourne. It was built ca. 1832 to replace an old wooden lighthouse. In the same year, Fuller bought Bodiam Castle for 3000 guineas at auction to save it from destruction. |
| Other number | R130 - Rawlinson number (Mummery Bequest) |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.2596-1946 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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