WESTALL, After Richard (1765-1836)

A Boy Angling; A Boy Mending His Net

London: J. & J. Boydell, 1 May 1802. Stipple engravings, printed in colours, with touches of hand-colouring, by William Nutter & Thomas Gaugain (1) and Hollyer and Gaugain (2). Image size (including text): 9 1/4 x 12 1/2 inches approx. Sheet size: 14 1/8 x 16 5/8 inches approx.

A charming pair of scenes of childhood, colour-printed and beautifully finished by hand.

Fine examples of large scale aquatints from Westall, based on his own charming watercolours. Westall was at his best in watercolour, and was the leader of a reform in figure-painting in this medium... The brilliancy of his colouring was considered novel and astonishing in his own day... A large number of Westall's rustic subjects were engraved, such as Rural Contemplation and Rural Music, by T. Gaugain, 1801; The Sad Story and The Woodcutter and Cowboy, by John Ogborne, 1802; A Storm in Harvest, 1802; and Reapers, 1805, by Robert Mitchell Meadows. (DNB). This extraordinarily appealing pair evoke the boyhood happiness of solitary outdoor activities. In one, a boy attentively mends his net by the seashore and in the other, another boy kneels by a quiet pond with his fishing rod and waits.

Item #6576

Price: $1,250.00