Joshua Cristall (1768-1847) - Nant Gwynant with Moel Hebog in the distance
The exhibition catalogue for a show on the works of Joshua Cristall at the VAM in 1975 mentions that there 'are few finished watercolour paintings of Welsh scenery.' [1] It was known that Cristall was there in 1802 and 1803 with the Varley brothers and William Havell but the later tours are not as well known. According to the same catalogue Cristall was 'certainly there in 1820 and 1831 - [but] seems to have concentrated mainly upon figures.' [2] Therefore the (re)discovery of 7 fully finished watercolours of Welsh landscapes from 1821/1822 at the Sotheby's sale in 1980 was a big breakthrough for collector's of Cristall.
Our watercolour came from the 1980 Sotheby's sale and is a superb example of Cristall's Welsh landscapes. It depicts Nant Gwynant with Meol Hebog in the distance which is an important landmark in Snowdonia. There were two works exhibited by Cristall at the Old Water-Colour Society in 1823 that mention 'Nant Gwynant', there is a possibility that our work could be no. 287 'At Nant Gwynant, Caernarvonshire'. This is due to another work from the same collection sold at Sotheby's in 1980 being exhibited in 1823 as 'Beth Gellart Church, Caernarvonshire' (no. 294). It has the same dimensions and was also signed and dated 1822 which means it was painted on the same tour of north Wales as our watercolour. Interestingly, the Bethgellert watercolour was sold again at Christie's on 8th July 1997 (lot 35) for £4,140.
Medium: watercolour over pencil, signed and dated l.l. 'J Cristall 1822' and numbered '22' l.l. corner, 21.5 x 35.5cm (framed 45.5 x 54cm).
Provenance: Purchased directly from Cristall as a set of 19 works by the artist in the 1820s by an ancestor of a gentleman who sold the group at Sotheby's in 1980; Sotheby's Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century British Watercolours and Drawings Sale, 10th July 1980, lot 56, sold for £1,700; Thos Agnew & Sons Ltd, stock no. DB2745 (labels verso).
Bibliography:
[1] Basil Taylor (1975), Joshua Cristall 1768-1847: Exhibition February-April 1975, VAM: London, p.60 for insight into Cristall's tours of Wales.
[2] Ibid., p.60.
Condition report: generally very good for its age. The frame shows a small bit of wear. Please see photos.