The Paintings
A pair of watercolours measuring 9" x 12" and 8½" x 12". The first has an old label
verso, inscribed in ink "Old Cottages in Alderminster, Painted by Sir Henry Dryden
Bart." The second has the same inscription verso in a later hand. It is very similar
to a watercolour in the Henry Dryden Collection at Northampton Central Library (accession
no. DR/39/003), which was painted on 22 August 1861.
About the Artist
Sir Henry Edward Leigh Dryden, Bart. (1818-1899) was the eldest son of the Rev. Sir
Henry Dryden of Canons Ashby, Northamptonshire. He was educated at Shrewsbury School
under the celebrated Headmaster, Dr Samuel Butler. On the death of his father in
1837, he became the owner of Canons Ashby. He was an enthusiastic archaeologist and
antiquary and is particularly remembered for his skill and accuracy in producing
thousands of architectural and archaeological drawings. The Sir Henry Dryden collection
in Northamptonshire Central Library includes thousands of Dryden’s drawings, plans
and notes that were presented to the town of Northampton after his death in 1899
by his only daughter, Miss Alice Dryden. Dryden's work includes studies of buildings
and historic sites and monuments throughout Britain and Europe, occasionally providing
the only record of structures that have not survived.
The Subject
Old Cottages in Alderminster, near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. The first and
slightly larger painting depicts a row of timber-framed thatched cottages with figures
to the foreground. The second painting shows a large timber-framed thatched cottage
with two figures and another cottage in the background.
