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Helen Allingham, RWS(British, 1848-1926)A Wiltshire cottage
Sold for £3,000 inc. premium
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Find your local specialistHelen Allingham, RWS (British, 1848-1926)
signed 'H Allingham' (lower right)
watercolour with scratching out
10 x 8cm (3 15/16 x 3 1/8in).
unframed
Footnotes
After the First World War, letters appeared in the national press appealing to the public to save old dwellings. Their importance both visually and historically in the English landscape was emphasised, as well as each building's uniqueness, as reflected by the use of local materials in their construction.
Whilst recognising the need for new housing, the architect Guy Dawber expressed his concern that traditional buildings should not be disregarded and swept away, but repaired and made use of, rather than being allowed to decay. Imagine his horror when seeing a cottage that had once been thatched, re-roofed with sheets of corrugated iron.
It was when Mrs Allingham began to concentrate on painting cottages in the 1880s, did she appreciate the skill of craftsmen centuries before. She was all too well aware of the uncertain future that many of these ancient buildings faced.
This cottage appears in at least two other watercolours by the artist and would have resulted from her trips to Wiltshire/Hampshire around the turn of the 20th century.





















