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Gallery

J. Hill after J.C.Nattes (1765 - 1822)

Garden Façade, 1805

This is the rear view of the Sydney Hotel, opened in 1796 as the centre of the 18th Century pleasure garden known as "The Sydney Vauxhall Gardens". The three-storey building was designed by Harcourt Masters to house a ballroom, rooms for drinking tea and coffee, and a gaming room; nearby was a tavern, the Sydney Tap. This view exists no longer, since the semicircular balcony where the orchestra played was replaced by an extension when the Hotel became the Holburne Museum in 1916. Looking out from the balcony a visitor would have seen all sorts of delights: the little private supper boxes for intimate dinners, the Labyrinth, temples, the ride and at night firework displays in the foreground.

Aquatints are known for the tonal qualities they display in addition to the fine lines of engraving. Where gradations of tone are needed, the etching plate is 'stopped' or covered with a powdered medium like rosin or varnish which resists acid. When the plate is dipped in acid the exposed parts are eaten away leaving tiny dots where the powder has rested, which have been controlled when applying them to give light and shade.

John Claude Nattes

John Claude Nattes was one of the first generation of watercolour painters, a highly skilled and sensitive painter, and a founder member of the Old Watercolour Society. This delicate composition is typical of the views he created to be published as books of topographical prints, very popular in the early 19th century. The unusual three-quarter view of the building combines with the placing of the figures to give a sense of movement, emphasizing that the back of the building is a gateway for the visitor to the gardenscape, the main interest of the Pleasure Gardens.