John Varley

Albion Chapel and the Remains of London Wall and Bethlehem Hospital

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July 6, 02:05 PM GMT

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Lot Details

Description

A Way of Life: The Collection of Barbara & Ernest Kafka

John Varley

Hackney 1778 - 1842 London

Albion Chapel and the Remains of London Wall and Bethlehem Hospital

Watercolour over pencil

387 by 324 mm

With P. & D. Colnaghi, London;
Michael Ingram;
with W.S. Fine Art, London, by 2006,
where acquired by the late owners

London, W.S. Fine Art, Watercolours and Drawings, 2006, no. 28 (front cover of the catalogue)

D. Clifford, Collecting English Watercolours, London 1970, p. 218

Standing on the pavement of a busy thoroughfare, Varley depicts the ruins of London’s Roman wall, the partly boarded up remains of the old Bethlehem Hospital and the pantheon-like Albion Chapel, Moorfields.

Albion Chapel was completed in 1815 to the designs of William Jay (circa 1793-1837). It was a Scots Presbyterian place of worship. The present watercolour is thought to date from 1815-16, soon after the completion of the Chapel.

Another watercolour by Varley, which appears to be based on the present sheet, is housed in the British Museum. ¹

1. British Museum, acc. no. 1880,1113.5624