The North West Prospect of the City of Bristol

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall

The depiction of the working classes in this 'North West Prospect of the City of Bristol', including women washing clothes and arranging them to dry, is contrasted with the fashionably dressed ladies and gentlemen at leisure, seen in Samuel and Nathaniel Buck's 'South East Prospect' of the city (see GAC 7560).

In 1720 the Buck brothers published proposals for engraved views or ‘prospects’ of two panoramic drawings of English towns: Leeds and Wakefield. The success of the prints led to a further eight town prospects. In 1728 they extended the project to record ‘prospects’ of every remaining principal town of England and Wales. Each was drawn at a rural spot some distance from the town itself and, when possible, from a height. The prospects were published with a numbered key and descriptive text below the image.

Brothers Samuel and Nathaniel Buck made their names as leading British topographical draughtsmen of the 18th century. Over a period of 34 years, the Bucks produced several hundred drawings and engravings, including 87 engraved prospects of England and Wales. These are now important visual records of the appearance of British urban landscapes prior to the changes that occurred during the Industrial Revolution. In some cases, the places depicted have since disappeared or changed beyond recognition.

Places

England, Bristol, Somerset, River Avon (Bristol Avon)

Subjects

drum (as subject), topography, landscape C18th, townscape/cityscape, telescope, river, hill, boy, man, woman, girl, laundry, basket, soldier, house, church, cathedral, spire, ship

Materials & Techniques

engraving, coloured engraving

Artist

Samuel and Nathaniel Buck (1696 - 1779)

Title

The North West Prospect of the City of Bristol

Date

published 1734

Medium

Coloured engraving

Acquisition

Purchased from Parker Gallery, May 1972

GAC number

9633