Harwich: the seashore and lighthouse

ca. 1815 · Drawing · 11.5 × 18.7 cm

May one see it?

Not receiving at present

Victoria and Albert Museum

London, United Kingdom

It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.

Checked: 13 days ago
In this state since: Sep 25, 2026
Source: The museum

On the map Museum page

About the work

This atmospheric drawing of the misty, windswept seashore at Harwich was the sketch for the oil painting Harwich: Sea and Lighthouse which Constable probably exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1820 (now in Tate Britain). However, there has been some debate about when exactly he made the sketch. Constable's handwriting was difficult to read and his spelling idiosyncratic. While the inscription on the lower right was once thought to read '1815', the last figure in the date is now illegible.

Victoria and Albert Museum

Particulars

Accession number: 302-1888

What it shows

Lighthouse Harwich Essex

In the catalog

Drawings & watercolors Graphite Neoclassicism Romanticism 19th century

Sources

Victoria and Albert Museum
Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Meanwhile, in the life of John Constable

The whole life

1816
A marriage against the bride’s grandfather
Maria’s grandfather, Dr Rhudde, rector of East Bergholt, opposed the match: he thought the Constables his social inferiors and threatened to disinherit her. Constable’s parents approved but offered no support until he was financially secure; they died soon afterwards, and he inherited a fifth share of the family business.
October 1816
A honeymoon by the sea
After the wedding at St Martin-in-the-Fields, conducted by Fisher, the couple stayed at Fisher’s vicarage and toured the south coast. The sea at Weymouth and Brighton pushed Constable towards brilliant colour and lively brushwork.
2 October 1816
Married: Maria Bicknell

All works