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1 of 253523 objects
The ascent to the Round Tower c.1770
Pencil, pen and ink, watercolour and bodycolour | 36.5 x 43.6 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 917876
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A watercolour drawing of the long flight of stone steps inside the Round Tower at Windsor Castle. A ladder hangs on the wall on the right. The stairs are populated by several groups of figures and dogs. The sheet is mounted on a yellow, blue and grey was line border of a type associated with works from the collection of Sir Joseph Banks. Attached below, from an old backing sheet, a label inscribed in pen and brown ink also of a type associated with drawings from the Banks collection, 'Windsor. View of the ascent to the Round Tower'. On the verso, a faint pencil outline of the north front of Windsor Castle with the Winchester Tower and north slopes from the Home Park. The view of the stone steps in the Round Tower at Windsor Castle has changed little since the date of this watercolour. In the eighteenth century the Round Tower housed the official apartments of the Castle Governor, but visitors were able to ascend the stairs to enjoy the magnificent view from the gallery around the base of the Tower. Today the Round Tower is home to the Royal Archives, and to the photographic section of the Royal Collection.
Provenance
Sir Joseph Banks; Sir Wyndham Knatchbull (sale, Christie's, 23 May 1876, lot 25); purchased (4 gns.) by Gaskell; purchased 1959 (sale, Christie's, 7 July 1959, lot 157)
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Medium and techniques
Pencil, pen and ink, watercolour and bodycolour
Measurements
36.5 x 43.6 cm (sheet of paper)
47.2 x 62.8 cm (mount)
Other number(s)
RL 17876Alternative title(s)
Windsor: View of the ascent to the Round Tower