Peele Town and Castle from the Stone Quarry
Date made: 1795
Description: This illustration of Peel Castle and the town of Peel was executed from the location of the sandstone quarry, Creg Mallin. It shows important details such as a man with a pick axe presumably heading to work at the quarry, and the horseshoe shaped gun battery which was erected around 1793 for defence of the harbour, following the outbreak of war with France.
This is one of a series of 18th century watercolour paintings depicting the Isle of Man executed by Britain's leading watercolour artist John 'Warwick' Smith. In the 1790s John ‘Warwick’ Smith was commissioned by the 4th Duke of Atholl, John Murray (1755-1830), then Governor-in-Chief of the Isle of Man, to complete a series of watercolour drawings of the Isle of Man. Twenty-six were completed in total, some of the earliest watercolour paintings depicting the Island. When the Duke died in 1830 the Atholls’ connection to the Isle of Man was severed, and the paintings were taken to Blair Castle, the ancestral home of the Atholl family. In the 1950s the entire set was rediscovered and purchased for the Manx Museum and returned to the Isle of Man.
Measurements: artwork: 30.5 x 43.5cm
Materials: watercolour on paper
Object name: Painting
Collection: Art Collection
ID number: 1954-7208
Subject tags : #Johnwarwicksmith