A View of the Walton Bridge, Venus’s Temple, etc. in the Garden of Sir Francis Dashwood Bart at West Wycomb in the County of Bucks / Veüe du Pont, du Temple de Venus, etc. dans le Jardin du Chevalier Fr. Dashwood a West Wycomb dans la Comté de Bucks.

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

William Hannan was born in Kelso, Roxburghshire, Scotland. At about the age of 16 he was apprenticed to a cabinet maker in London. However, between 1751 and 1754 he produced four views of West Wycombe Park in Buckinghamshire for Sir Francis Dashwood, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and a famous dilettante. Hannan was also involved in the interior decoration at West Wycombe. Between 1769 and 1772 He exhibited drawings and paintings, mostly Lake District views, at the Society of Artists in London, becoming a fellow in 1770. He also produced paintings after engravings of works by other artists, such as an oil painting after George Lambert’s ‘View of Hamoze and Plymouth Dock’ (Plymouth Art Gallery). Hannan died in High Wycombe at the age of 54.
William Woollett was the son of an innkeeper, from Maidstone, Kent. In 1750 he was apprenticed to John Tinney at the Goldsmith’s Company. By 1759, he was studying at St Martin’s Lane Academy. Three years later he married Hannah but, after their five children died in infancy, Hannah also died in 1770. Woollett was later remarried to Elizabeth. His earliest prints are of country houses and gardens, after his own designs. He was first employed by John Boydell in 1760. His engraving after Richard Wilson’s ‘The Destruction of the Children of Niobe’ won him considerable critical acclaim and, as a result, Alan Ramsay invited him to engrave his portrait of George III. Woollett reportedly died ‘from the effect of an accident, unskilfully treated’.

Places

England, West Wycombe Park, Buckinghamshire

Subjects

rowing boat, topography, genre, tree, lake, boy, man, woman, girl, 18th century costume, dress, bridge (rural), garden, park, lawn, footbridge, country house/mansion, temple (religious building), folly, facade, ship

Materials & Techniques

engraving, coloured engraving

Artist

William Hannan (1725 - 1772)
William Woollett (1735 - 1785)

Title

A View of the Walton Bridge, Venus’s Temple, etc. in the Garden of Sir Francis Dashwood Bart at West Wycomb in the County of Bucks / Veüe du Pont, du Temple de Venus, etc. dans le Jardin du Chevalier Fr. Dashwood a West Wycomb dans la Comté de Bucks.

Date

1757

Medium

Coloured engraving

Acquisition

Purchased from Parker Gallery, March 1973

GAC number

10143