Lot 308
HORSBURGH, JAMES
A COLLECTION OF WATERCOLOURS SHOWING SCOTTISH SCENERY AND LIFE
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photography
Auction: 9 October 2019 at 12:00 BST
Description
98 mounted sketches, mostly watercolour but some pen and ink, showing scenery around Sutherland and Killiecrankie, with several showing interior scenes of crofts, and 4 mounted albumen photographs showing Highland estate workers, c.1850
Footnote
Note: This extensive collection of drawings appears to record the journey of a James Horsburgh Esq. around the Highlands of Scotland in the mid-19th century. One sketch is signed 'J. Horsburgh', whilst another depicts a self-caricature of the artist falling in a river whilst fishing. The caption reads: "James Horsburgh Esq. as he appeared in the River Naver, salmon fishing!!" All the drawings are captioned - some rather amusingly ("Mode of carrying my carpet bag in Sutherland and a very bonny lassie too!") Whilst many of the illustrations show idyllic Highland scenes and castles, several are exceptional in that they depict the interiors of Highland cottages at the time. An illustration entitled "Thos. Og's Cottage, Torrisdale, Sutherland" depicts a family and beasts, sitting around a central cooking pot inside a cottage, whilst a figure looks across the room from a box bed. Another depicts the interior of a shepherd's cottage, where it appears Horsburgh spent the night in the company of a crying baby and the family pig helping itself to the contents of a cooking pot!