An Encampment in St. James Park - YCBA Collections Search

Paul Sandby, 1731–1809, British, An Encampment in St. James Park, ca. 1780

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Creator:: Paul Sandby, 1731–1809
Title:: An Encampment in St. James Park
Additional Title(s):: Encampment in St. James's Park
Date:: ca. 1780
Materials & Techniques:: Watercolor, graphite, and pen and brown ink on medium, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:: Sheet: 11 7/8 x 17 7/8 inches (30.2 x 45.4 cm)
Credit Line:: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:: Public Domain
Accession Number:: B1981.25.2690
Classification:: Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:: Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:: clouds | encampments, military | genre subject | landscape | men | park (grounds) | soldiers | tents | trees | women
Associated Places:: City of Westminster | England | Europe | Greater London | London | St. James's Park | United Kingdom
Access:: Accessible by appointment in the Study Room [Request]
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Link:: https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:19912
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In June 1780, anti-Catholic demonstrators rioted in London. To quell the disturbances, known as the Gordon Riots, government troops were stationed for some months at several London parks and on the grounds of the British Museum. During this time, "all other places of amusement were almost forsaken. The Novelty of such spectacle in London, together with their excellent bands of music, who performed some of our best compositions morning and evening, naturals captivated the multitude" (The Virtuosi's Museum, Dec. 1, 1780).

Gallery label for Pleasures and Pastime (Yale Center for British Art, 1990-02-21 - 1990-04-29)

In June 1780 London was subjected to a week of mob violence as furious protestors took control of the streets, denouncing recent legislation that eased the penal laws against Roman Catholics. The government was finally forced to send in the army, and military encampments sprang up in a number of London’s parks. Sandby made a suite of drawings of the various camps, which he later engraved in aquatint and sold in sets. Sandby’s lyrical view looking across to Westminster Abbey suggests a genteel garden party rather than an army camp on active duty in the midst of a political crisis.

Gallery label for Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2008-06-09 - 2008-08-17)

Picturing Britain - Paul Sandby (1731-1809) - A Bicentenary Exhibition (Royal Academy of Arts, 2010-03-13 - 2010-06-13) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Picturing Britain - Paul Sandby (1731-1809) - A Bicentenary Exhibition (National Gallery of Scotland, 2009-11-07 - 2010-02-07) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Picturing Britain - Paul Sandby (1731-1809) - A Bicentenary Exhibition (Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery, 2009-07-25 - 2009-10-18) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2008-06-09 - 2008-08-17) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art (The State Hermitage Museum, 2007-10-23 - 2008-01-13) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2007-07-11 - 2007-09-30) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

' Art on the Line ' : the Royal Academy Exhibitions at Somerset House 1780-1836 (The Courtauld Gallery, 2001-10-17 - 2002-01-20) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Pleasures and Pastimes (Yale Center for British Art, 1990-02-21 - 1990-04-29) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

The Art of Paul Sandby (Yale Center for British Art, 1985-04-10 - 1985-06-23) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Art on the line : the Royal Academy exhibitions at Somerset House, 1780-1836 : [catalogue of works], , The Courtauld Gallery, London, 2001, no. 182, V 0909 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Stephen Daniels, Paul Sandby, picturing Britain , Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2009, cat. 50, NJ18 Sa56 P3 2009 + OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]

Simon Davy, Abbey's Corona is Shelved, but Planning for the Triforium Gallery Goes on , American Magazine of Art, no. 51, Winter 2010/11, p. 8, Not Available at Yale [ORBIS]

Elisabeth Fairman, Pleasures and pastimes, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut, 1990, p. 28, no. 192, DA485 F25 1990 (YCBA) [YCBA]

The Art of Paul Sandby, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut, 1985, pp. 84-6, no. 112, NJ18 Sa56 R62 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Yale Center for British Art, Great British watercolors : from the Paul Mellon Collection, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2007, pp. 22-23, no. 6, ND1928 .Y35 2007 (LC)+ Oversize (YCBA) [YCBA]

Mahonri Sharp Young, The Mellon Drawings at the Morgan, Apollo, vo. 95, April 1972, p. 333, N1 A54 + (YCBA) [YCBA]

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