Richard Cosway, RA, 
British 1742-1821- 
Study of a courting couple seated under a tree; 
pen and...

Richard Cosway, RA, 
British 1742-1821- 

Study of a courting couple seated under a tree; 

pen and brown ink on laid paper, 23.3 x 18.9 cm. 

Provenance: 
Possibly ex-collection Maria Cosway, the artist’s wife. 
the collection of Gerald Barnett (until circa 2000). 
with D S Lavender Antiques, circa 2001. 
The collection of Timothy Clowes (until 2021). 
When sold Sotheby’s London, 23 September 2021, lot 127; 
Where acquired by the present owner. 

Literature: 
G. Barnett, Richard and Maria Cosway, London 1995, fig. 5. 

Note: 
While predominantly known as a miniature painter, the engaging, intimate drawing presented here showcases Richard Cosway’s skill as a draughtsman on a larger scale. With vivid and fluid linework, Cosway has captured a spontaneous interaction between a courting couple: a gentleman interrupts a lady’s reading, pointing to his heart, perhaps to signal his feelings towards his companion. 
The composition of this drawing echoes a 1784 etching published by Thomas Rowlandson (1757-1827), which shows Cosway and his wife, Maria, together with the anti-slavery campaigner Ottobah Cugoano (who worked as a servant at the Cosways’ house for a number of years), seated within the formal garden of their London home at Pall Mall. An impression of this etching is held at the Royal Collection [inv. No. RCIN 653010]. That etching, in turn, looks back to marital portraits of the previous centuries, such as Peter Paul Rubens’ renowned example now in the collection of the Alte Pinakothek, Munich [inv. No. 334], which portrays the Flemish painter seated beneath a ‘honeysuckle bower’ beside his first wife, Isabella Brant. A keen collector of Old Master paintings and drawings, Cosway would undoubtedly have been familiar with Rubens’ portraits. The historic costume worn by the figures both in the 1784 etching and in the present drawing appears to pay homage to these famous earlier examples. 
Although the sitters are unidentified, it is possible that the male figure is a self-portrait of the artist, as it appears to closely relate to known portraits of Cosway, such as the engraving by Mariano Bovi [a v1757-1813], a version of which is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery [NPG D13726].