William Leighton Leitch (British 1804 - 1883) Bethlehem, Evening after Harvest

William Leighton Leitch (British 1804 - 1883) Bethlehem, Evening after Harvest, titled lower left, watercolour, 21.5 x 32 cm, frame 43 x 54 cm

Provenance: collection of Peter Roberts, purchased from Maurice Edward Dear, Label verso, property of William Blackie esq, engraved for A Bernes 'Notes on the New Testament' Blackie and Son 1841. Exhibited Glasgow Corporation Art Galleries. Fine Art Loan Exhibition 1878

Footnote: Peter Roberts was born in Shropshire and brought up in the market town of Shrewsbury. He attended the Priory Grammar School before leaving for Cambridge University where he studied Classics and English. He qualified as a teacher, working first at Rydal School in North Wales before being appointed Head of English at Oundle School in 1982 where he remained until his retirement in 2007. Later in life he returned to his roots in Shropshire and spent his time pursuing his love of the arts, and built up a very carefully curated collection of antique furniture, antiquarian books and in particular, 19^th Century English Watercolours. Roberts had a keen eye and focused on some of Britain’s best loved landscape painters such as David Cox, John Varley, Paul Sandby, Peter de Wint and William Leighton Leitch.

Condition Report
The painting is a watercolour, framed under glazing- not examined external to the frame. The sheet is well preserved, no obvious faults. One isolated spot of foxing in the skyline. The paint surface appears well preserved, colours are good, no obvious paint loss. Frame has solid joints, general wear and tear.

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