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Constable's other view of the Thames for sale
Louise Jury29 Jun 2007
He recorded the opening of Waterloo Bridge in 1829 in one of his most celebrated giant works. But John Constable is known to have produced only one other oil painting of the Thames.
That work is now coming up for sale and is expected to make up to £350,000. View On The Thames Near Battersea Bridge, With Chelsea Beyond, London, was produced in about 1818.
The Suffolk-born artist moved to London after he married, living in Charlotte Street and then Bloomsbury, before eventually settling in Hampstead in 1819.
The view in the picture is from a bend in the river known as Battersea Reach, just by what is now Chelsea Harbour. It shows the old Battersea Bridge in the centre, with Battersea mill and St Mary's Church to the right and Chelsea Old Church beyond.
The old wooden bridge was eventually replaced by a wrought iron structure and the linseed grinding mill was demolished in 1849. The churches still stand, although Chelsea Old Church was bombed heavily during the Blitz.
The painting was originally owned by Isabel Constable, the artist's daughter, and then her niece, Ella. It will be sold at Christie's in London on Thursday next week.
