A pencil, black chalk and watercolour drawing of a landscape, with trees on rising ground, a cottage on the right, and cows in the foreground. The river Thames with ships in the distance. Signed in pen and ink: 'P. Sandby, Woolwich 1796'. Inscribed in pencil on the verso: 'at Woolwich'. 

Paul Sandby was Chief Drawing Master at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich from 1768 until 1796, renting lodgings nearby in Old Charlton. This watercolour shows a view in Woolwich park, with the river in the distance. The drawing is a pair with RCIN 917152 and was purchased together. Oppé notes that the use of black chalk 'to give 'body' while retaining transparency is a new development of Sandby's processes' (Oppé 1947, no. 194). Sandby experimented with materials and techniques, and his watercolours show a range of different styles. Oppé's description of the work and its pair as 'studio drawings' however, does not align with the fact that Sandby signed and dated both works, a rare practice more common to his later works.