Cheffins Auctioneers discover Constable drawings!

A wonderful collection of eight drawings, seven by John Constable RA (1776-1837) and the eighth by his son Lionel (1828-1887), have been discovered and are to be included in Cheffins March Fine Art auction.

One of the more sentimental highlights of this collection is a pencil drawing by John Constable inscribed ‘Binfiled Decr. 6th 1816’. This scene of a ‘Horse at rest beside a plough’ (above)  is believed to have been drawn by Constable whilst on honeymoon with his beloved wife Maria. This pencil drawing, originally made in a small pocket sized sketchbook, would have been drawn on their return from Dorset whilst staying in Binfield in Berkshire Although away from his familiar Suffolk home, the subject matter remains familiar.

Other scenes in the drawings from East Anglia include the River Meadows around East Bergholt and the footbridge at Flatford.

Anne Lyles, the leading authority on the work of John Constable, is very excited at this discovery and having authenticated the drawings wrote as part of the catalogue introduction: "This remarkable group of drawings - seven by John Constable and one attributed to his son, Lionel Constable - can be traced back to the stock of London fine art dealers Leggatt Brothers, who handled a large quantity of Constable's sketches in oil, watercolour and pencil in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

"The vendor's father purchased this group of drawings from Leggatt Brothers in 1952, for £500. The drawings had been committed for sale by H.A. Sutch. 

"Sutch was also a London art dealer who, together with Fredrick C. Williams, had been in partnership with William Lawson Peacock with premises in Duke Street St James and Bond Street as well as in Princes Street, Edinburgh."

Viewing from preceding Sunday. Colour catalogue available

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