Watercolour on paper

Why we acquired this work

As well as introducing us to a new personality and feeling in art, this watercolour throws curious new light on the artistic development of the Rev. Willam Bree.

The Subject

Is this subject something sad but charming, a pastel-tinted view of a cottage which now lies neglected, the last owner having died without heirs? Or is this something sinister, a gingerbread cottage where something evil lurks to lure us to our doom?

The Artist

The artist was the wife of the Reverend William Bree, by whom we have seen several views in this series. It dates from 1783, the year when on 7th August this artist married Rev. Bree.

The date of this watercolour is interesting because it is actually earlier than any dated watercolour we possess by her husband. We could take the apparently easy line and say that Bree had studied under the artist Malchair at Oxford University and so must have taught her. But as we know so little about Elizabeth Mallory we cannot be sure of this.

Other related works in the Herbert's collection

The Herbert holds many watercolours by her husband Rev. William Bree, but only this single precious piece of evidence of the art of his 'other half'.