The Manor House, Cresswells

c. 1665

Hendrick Danckerts

(Dutch, 1625–1680)

Culture

Netherlands

Medium

Pen, ink, wash with watercolor on two conjoined pieces of paper

Measurements

Sheet: 27.9 x 88.9 cm (11 x 35 in.)

Credit Line

Severance and Greta Millikin Trust 2024.60

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The timber-framed house depicted here was built in the fifteenth century and demolished in the eighteenth century.

Description

The Anglo-Dutch painter, Hendrick Danckert, made this panoramic view of the manor house at Cresswells, Bray, in Berkshire, England around 1670. The drawing was preparatory for a painting of the house, presumably commissioned by its owner, Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort. The genre of topographical painting that flourished in England beginning in the 17th century accompanied the building boom after the Restoration (1660), which was funded in large part by the American colonies. Many Dutch artists, trained in landscape painting in their native country, emigrated to England to meet the demand. Danckerts was among the first to incorporate watercolor into his drawings, a genre that would flourish in England in the following centuries.