William Fleetwood Varley, British 1785-1856- Redcliffe Church, Bristol; pen and...

William Fleetwood Varley,
British 1785-1856-

Redcliffe Church, Bristol;

pen and black ink and watercolour on paper, titled 'Redcliffe Church Bristol' (lower left), bears inscription 'W. Fleetwood Varley' and further titled on the reverse, 27 x 20.6 cm.; together with a 'Circle of David Cox Senior' watercolour of a river landscape with boats, 18.4 x 32.4 cm.; and a further 19th-century watercolour of cottages on a seashore, 16.2 x 28.8 cm., three (3), (all unframed).

Provenance:
Private Collection, UK.

Note:
The present work depicts the church of St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol, celebrated for its striking Gothic architecture, and supposedly described by Queen Elizabeth I as 'the fairest, goodliest, and most famous parish church in England'. The spire was struck by lightning in 1446, and this work shows the church as it was for much of its history, before the spire was restored in 1872. Here, Bristol is shown as the thriving mercantile city it was, fuelled by the trade of the boats traversing the estuary.