Tree study.

Brush and grey wash, framing lines in black ink, 22,0 x 15,2 cm, laid paper with unidentified watermark, unsigned.

Under passe-partout.

An elegant drawing of a tree. Most likely by a French artist working during the closing years of the 17th c. This drawing was once part of a significant album of drawings attributed to Stefano Della Bella (1610-1664) formerly in the collection of the Earl of Gainsborough, and later in the library of Kinnaird Castle. The album was dispersed in 1946 and the drawings sold individually through the Arcade Gallery (London).
Ref. S.n., Stefano della Bella: Exhibition of 60 of his Drawings, London, 1946, no. 46.
Prov. The Earl of Gainsborough.