View from the Black Rod of the Round Tower, Royal Court and Devil's Tower in Windsor Castle c. 1790
Pencil, pen and ink, watercolour and bodycolour | 28.0 x 43.4 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 914565
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A watercolour drawing of the Round Tower from the Black Rod. On the right is the Edward III Tower. In the distance, the north side of the Quadrangle is visible, with the entrance to the State Apartments. In the foreground and on the far right are cottages and trees. A woman is hanging washing on the left, two figures and a baby are leaning on the low brick wall in the foreground and a woman carrying a bucket is in the lower left corner. Mounted on a yellow, grey and pink wash line bordered mount of a type associated with drawings acquired at the Paul Sandby estate sale in 1811. The mount is lettered, 'View from the Black Rod of the Round Tower Royal Court, and Devil's Tower &c, in Winds Castle'. A companion drawing in an identical mount showing the Round Tower and Black Rod from a different angle is also in the Royal Collection (RCIN 914566) and the two were probably intended as a pair. As with several of Sandby's watercolours of Windsor Castle, there is a related work in bodycolour that belonged to Sir Joseph Banks (sale, Christie's, 23 May 1876, lot 22), in this instance dated about 1767 (National Gallery of Melbourne (Felton Bequest 1922, acc. no. 1260/3). A drawing of the right half of the view is also in the Royal Collection (RCIN 914561). Another bodycolour of a similar view is also in the Royal Collection (RCIN 917750). The Edward III Tower was formerly known as the Devil's Tower or the Maids of Honour Tower as it was used in the eighteenth century by the ladies in attendance on the Royal Family. The Round Tower was raised and remodelled by Sir Jeffry Wyatville in the nineteenth century, and the cottages around the Black Rod were removed.
Provenance
Paul Sandby (sale, Christie's 2 May 1811, lot 90); purchased by Colnaghi (£3. 2s.) for the Prince Regent (later King George IV); by descent
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Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Pencil, pen and ink, watercolour and bodycolour
Measurements
28.0 x 43.4 cm (sheet of paper)
37.0 x 52.8 cm (mount)
Other number(s)
RL 14565Alternative title(s)
The Round Tower with the Black Rod and the Devil's or Maids of Honour Tower