Drawings & Watercolours from the Collection of a Connoisseur

JOHN VARLEY OWS (BRITISH 1778-1842)
Portrait of a lady in profile facing left
inscribed and dated June 29 1810/ London lower left, further inscribed on the laid paper mount John Varley
pencil on wove paper mounted onto a small sheet of laid paper
18.5 x 11 cm (7 1/4 x 4 1/4 in)
together with a self-portrait by Penry Williams (1802-1885), signed, inscribed and dated lower left, Penry Williams by himself, Rome 1836, pencil, 18.5 x 11.3 cm (7 1/4 x 4 1/2 in)
both unframed, mounted
(2)

The portrait drawing by John Varley was probably made using a Camera Lucida, patented in 1806 by William Hyde Wollaston (1766-1828). Both John Varley and his brother Cornelius used this instrument to produce portraits and landscapes which allowed them to project an image onto a sheet of paper or canvas. In 1811 Cornelius Varley himself patented his own instrument The Graphic Telescope which had a similar purpose. Many of the surviving portraits by the brothers depict members of their immediate circle.