Bowater Vernon (1683-1735) with Hanbury Hall and its Formal Garden
John Wootton (Snitterfield c.1682 – London 1764)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1734
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1067 x 1524 mm
Order this imageCollection
Hanbury Hall, Worcestershire
NT 414278
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Bowater Vernon (1683-1735) with Hanbury Hall and its Formal Garden by John Wootton (Snitterfield c.1682 – London 1764), 1734. A full-length portrait of Bowater Vernon standing to the left of centre, holding a gun, his groom, mounted, with two horses to far left, his two gundogs to right. Hanbury Hall can be seen in the distance.
Full description
John Wootton was a painter noted for his genre paintings of sporting subjects, battle scenes and landscapes. This painting shows Bowater Vernon standing in front of his inherited estate of Hanbury Hall, engaging in the typical aristocratic leisure pursuits of hunting and shooting. The original gardens at Hanbury Hall were designed in 1705 by George London, one of the most celebrated garden designers of the time, noted for creating gardens for royalty and nobility at Chatsworth, Hampton Court and Kensington Palace. The scene demonstrates how London's garden designs created a space for escape and recreation by combining the intricacy and mathematical precision of European baroque gardens with freer incorporation of the surrounding English landscape. The gardens recede into the distance, emphasising the scale and reach of the estate. Subject to constantly changing fashion, London's formal gardens were later removed, initially giving way to more relaxed, Capability Brown landscapes, and then with wide open spaces and uninterrupted views. In the early 1990s work began on the recreation of London's garden at Hanbury Hall from the original historic plans, and they were re-opened in 1995.(Text adapted from The Lie of the Land (exh. cat.), Milton Keynes: MK Gallery, 2019, p. 100.
Provenance
Bequeathed to the National Trust by Mr. Frederick Horton of Shrawley Wood House, in March 1990.
Credit line
Hanbury Hall, The Vernon Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
John Wootton (Snitterfield c.1682 – London 1764), artist
Exhibition history
The Lie of the Land, MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, 2019
References
Blanchard 2019: Fay Blanchard, Gerrie van Noord, Anthony Spira (contributors), The lie of the land (exh. cat.), Milton Keynes: MK Gallery, 2019., p. 100