John Varley

Albion Chapel and the Remains of London Wall and Bethlehem Hospital

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July 6, 02:05 PM GMT

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A Way of Life: The Collection of Barbara & Ernest Kafka

John Varley

Hackney 1778 - 1842 London

Albion Chapel and the Remains of London Wall and Bethlehem Hospital

Watercolour over pencil

387 by 324 mm

With P. & D. Colnaghi, London;
Michael Ingram;
with W.S. Replica Handbags , London, by 2006,
where acquired by the late owners

London, W.S. Replica Handbags , Watercolours and Drawings, 2006, no. 28 (front cover of the catalogue)

D. Clifford, Collecting English Watercolours, London 1970, p. 218

Standing on the pavement of a busy thoroughfare, Varley depicts the ruins of London’s Roman wall, the partly boarded up remains of the old Bethlehem Hospital and the pantheon-like Albion Chapel, Moorfields.

Albion Chapel was completed in 1815 to the designs of William Jay (circa 1793-1837). It was a Scots Presbyterian place of worship. The present watercolour is thought to date from 1815-16, soon after the completion of the Chapel.

Another watercolour by Varley, which appears to be based on the present sheet, is housed in the British Museum. ¹

1. British Museum, acc. no. 1880,1113.5624