River scene at Mistley, Essex

c. 1817-1819 · Drawing · 11.6 × 18.6 cm

Can I see it?

Not on view at present

Where is “River scene at Mistley, Essex” now? Collection: Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Not on view at present. Checked September 25, 2026.

Victoria and Albert Museum

London, United Kingdom

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

Checked: 15 days ago
In this state since: Sep 25, 2026
Source: The museum

On the map Museum page

About the work

Two of Constable's drawings of Mistley, a river port near Harwich, are in the Museum's collection. This view of the approach to Mistley by river, made either in 1817 or 1819, depicts the town in greater detail than the earlier view (1813). In the distance can be seen the twin towers of Mistley church, which was designed by the eminent architect Robert Adam.

Victoria and Albert Museum

Details

Accession number: 620-1888

What it shows

River Ship Essex Mistley

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

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
1821
“The Hay Wain” at the Royal Academy
The picture, shown as “Landscape: Noon”, found no buyer, but it was seen by the painter Théodore Géricault and the writer Charles Nodier. According to Delacroix, Géricault went back to France quite stunned and invited Constable to Paris, while Nodier urged French artists to look to nature rather than to trips to Rome.
1821
Son born: Charles Golding Constable
1821
“I should paint my own places best”
In a letter to his friend John Fisher in 1821 Constable wrote that he should paint his own places best, and that painting is but another word for feeling. The Dedham Vale around his home came to be known as “Constable Country”.