John Constable RA (1776-1837) The Keep, Colchester Castle, from the North East Pencil 9.4 x 11.

John Constable RA (1776-1837) The Keep, Colchester Castle, from the North East Pencil 9.4 x 11.7cm; 3¾ x 4½in Provenance: Agnew's, London, 1943; Where purchased by Howard Bliss (1894-1977); By whom given to John Marshall (1911-1995); And by descent to the present private collector, Wiltshire Literature: 'A Sketch of Colchester Castle by John Constable, R.A.', in The Essex Review (no.208, vol.LII, October 1943), pp.181-184, illustrated p.182 Exhibited: London, Agnew's, 70th Annual Exhibition , 1943 The present work is closely related to a sketch of Colchester Castle on page 66 of the 1813 intact sketchbook, now in the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (no.317-1888; Graham Reynolds, The Early Paintings and Drawings of John Constable, Yale University Press, 1996, no. 13.17, p.66). Constable executed the V&A’s work whilst staying in Colchester with William Mason (1768-1840), a solicitor and relation by marriage. Graham Reynolds saw the present work in 1973 and dated it to 1813. The sheet of the present work is, however, very slightly larger than the sheets of the V&A’s sketchbook, which perhaps indicates that either it was a one-off drawing on a loose sheet, or that our work was originally part of a different sketchbook, which would have been detached and gifted, possibly to William Mason himself. The figure in the lower right could in fact be a depiction of Mason. Although the present sketch is closely related to Constable’s work of 1813, it could alternatively have been executed the following year, when Constable was known to have stayed with Revd W. W. Driffield at Feering, near Colchester. Constable and Driffield toured the south of Essex together, although the exact spots they visited are unknown. We are grateful to Anne Lyles for her assistance cataloguing the present work.