Mr. & Mrs. Kent Hubbard, Middletown, CT
Private collection, New Britain, CT
Private collection, Long Island, NY
Rehs Galleries, Inc., NYC
Private collection, United Kingdom
EXHIBITED
April-May 1891 The Fine Art Society, New Bond Street, London W1, No 21 Old Cottage at Roundhurst, Sussex
Chicago Exhibition 1893, No 47 £100
LITERATURE
The Art Journal ‘Art in the Woman’s Section of the Chicago Exhibition’ 1893 p xiv.
NOTES
Roundhurst is a small area below the hill of Blackdown near the town of Haslemere, on the Surrey/Sussex border. The Old Cottage was part of the Aldworth estate once owned by the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, and where the artist, Helen Allingham, and her husband William were regular visitors during the 1880s.
Lord Tennyson often walked over Blackdown with his dogs, but on occasions invited Mrs Allingham to accompany him with the sole purpose of showing her views or buildings he thought might interest her. She would make a rough sketch in her notebook and return to the location at a later date with her watercolours. When walking through the Old Cottage garden it is said the poet would lean on his stick and pause to listen to the trickle of the stream, spending time deep in thought.
Helen Allingham’s trademark watercolours of cottages and gardens made her a celebrated artist in her life time and her paintings are much sought after. She captured everyday scenes from around her Surrey home, as well as long forgotten sights in the English countryside, such as the practice of drying linen over hedges or in this case, on the lawn. It is possible this was the home of a laundry maid at Aldworth.
The cottage, which still stands today, also appears as the subject of two other watercolours, but from the front aspect.
