The north front of the Castle from the Maestricht Pond c. 1765
Pencil and watercolour | 30.8 x 70.3 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 914582
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A watercolour drawing of the north front of Windsor Castle from the Maestricht Pond in the Little Park. The pond occupies the centre ground. On the bank in the foreground, cattle and horses. Several trees on the left. Two sheets of paper, joined at the far left. With a label in pen and ink previously on the verso, 'Windsor/ View of the Castle from the Maestricht Pond in the Little Park', of a type from the collection of Sir Joseph Banks. The wide format and size of the drawing indicate that it is probably a companion to RCIN 914583, also formerly in the Banks collection. Another watercolour of the same view is in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, KT, Drumlanrig. A pencil drawing of the horse in the foreground is also in the Royal Collection (RCIN 914534), inscribed as the Duke of Cumberland's mare. The same horse appears in a watercolour of Eton in the British Museum (1904,0819.93). The viewpoint is taken from the northernmost point of the Little Park (today the Home Park). In 1674 this area had been used for a reenactment of the Siege of Maestricht, and was called by this name until the mid-nineteenth century. This area was intended for a formal garden in the seventeenth century, but the plans abandoned by Queen Anne.
Provenance
Sir Joseph Banks; Sir William Knatchbull (sale, Christie's, 23 May 1876, lot 51); purchased (8 1/2 gns) by Weston; Anderdon Weston (sale, Sotheby's, 16 February 1922, lot 118 and 27 June 1922, lot 48); purchased by HM Queen Mary; presented to the Royal Collection, 6 March 1930
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Medium and techniques
Pencil and watercolour
Measurements
30.8 x 70.3 cm (sheet of paper)
Other number(s)
RL 14582