Three Men and a Dog Fishing on the Riverbank Wonderful Georgian framed Graphite Picture

THE STORY - The gentleness of this picture is just wonderful with the subject of the three men and their dog set fishing along the riverbank probably not roaming far from their home which could well be the house we see behind them. The picture is a pencil sketch and would date to the end of the 1700s possibly the very early 1800s, no doubt undertaken by a friend of the three gentlemen, possibly a fellow Angler and it is just a wonderful encapsulation of a moment in time. The work is naive and is not in anyway overworked, yet there is quite a lot going on in the picture with the bank on the densely worked foreground from which our eyes follow the river bank upon which the three men fish in the river with one sitting on what looks like a little bridge and one with his back to them maybe fishing the river on the other side of the bridge certainly that darling little dog seems interested in what is going on. The group are set in front of a wonderful cottage seen through a copse of trees and how I love how they have been drawn their leaves on their branches looking so bountiful, I do wonder if charcoal could have been used to achieve this. The trunks of the trees look quite bent and I am not sure if one is being propped up with a piece of wood. Indeed the riverbank looks to be supported with some wooden struts and as your eyes follow the river down we see another cottage in the copse and in the far distance a church. The picture sits its in a wonderful deep gilt wooden frame which like the picture certainly has age but my sense is that it would be later than the frame possibly circa 1850.

AGE - Circa - 1790

CONDITION - Both the picture and the frame are in good condition. The paper has certainly darkened with age and this is especially true of the corner above the church with a couple of little marks. The frame has a couple of little knocks the largest on the bottom corner by the trees which can best be seen in the seventh photo. The backing tape is dry and is coming off slightly but I will leave it to the new owner to decided how and if they want to replace it and I would recommend testing replacing the string before hanging.

DIMENSIONS (Approx) - Framed - Length 13&1/4" / 34cm, Height 10" / 25cm, Depth 1&3/4" / 4.5cm. Image Size - Length 10&1/2" / 26.5cm, Height 7" / 18cm

I confess when I look at this picture I find myself just wanting to step inside to join the three men and their dog on the riverbank and to hear the flow of the water and the sound of their fishing lines hitting the water with the sound of the little dog scampering around. It is as if life has just stopped still, it really is so very, very calming. A very special piece.