Cotmania. Vol. IX. 1933-4

{Insert recto}

{Kitson annotation}

[illegible 1 word] 'The Sculptor' by J.S. Cotman (S.D.K-766)

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{inserted letter from Jonas Esdaile}

Telephone: Park 5102
50 Lansdowne Road
London W.11
29/-7/1933

Dear Mr Kitson,
Edmund had no theories except that the date of the sculptor + the subject don't fit. He is in [trousers], the last in a [illegible 2 word] wig. But I do feel it can hardly be a [illegible 1 word] picture because the sculptor is so very definitely doing a portrait & not an ideal subject: the sculptor in the abstract would surely be given a more lofty subject than this rather plain man in an old-fashioned wig! (The [illegible] child on the wall is of the age when every [[illegible 1 word]] sculptor collected him). I believe the young artist to be Flaxman, the last one of his portraits— he is [quite] incomparably greater, indeed [quite][illegible 1 word] second—

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{insert: verso}

— class,—when he is working in the 18th Century manner, [illegible 1 word] his Lord Mayor at Christ Church Spitafields at his 6th Duke of Bolton at Basing. It is twelve years since I saw the latter but this picture recalls it— Take this for what it is worth—only, I wish I could do better!

Jonas [Vicars] [illegible 1 word] Esdaile

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{S.D. K annotation}

Flaxman was born in 1755 he would therefore be 55 in 1807— the earliest date for this drawing- the sculptor is portrayed as a [illegible 1 word] man.

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{clipping}

07/08/1933

Unspoilt East Anglia
Rural England at its Best
The Shadow of Change

To the Editor of the Times

Sir,— Now that many people are planning their holidays, may I suggest, to those appreciative of our countryside, a visit to a very beautiful district, almost untouched and typical or rural England at its best ?
Suffolk is a country that, although within easy reach of London, owing to its archaic train service, has fortunately escaped the hand of the speculative builder, and suffered but little from "development." The scenery is delightful, with a restfulness and charm that is most attractive and the villages, with their saffron coloured plaster and timber houses, tiled and thatched roofs, are admirable examples of local craftsmanship. Kersey Clare, Hadleigh, and Monks Eleigh, to name only a few, are very picturesque, and at Boxford there is a group of old eighteenth-century cottages and shops by the church that Cotman would have loved to paint.

I am, Sir, yours faithfully,
E. Guy Dawber, A.R.A.
18, Maddox Street, Hanover Square, W.1.