Robert Streatfeild

Robert Streatfeild
(1786–1852)

Sketchbook

35 drawings on 41 leaves bound in marble paper-covered boards with a black, tooled leather spine. Chiefly watercolor; pen and black ink, gray wash; fourteen pencil sketches; some on facing pages
Binding: 5 1/8 x 6 11/16 in. (129 x 169 mm); leaves: 4 13/16 x 6 3/8 in. (123 x 162 mm)

Purchased as a gift of Mrs. Roy O'Connor and Mrs. Sumner Pingree

1985.60
Item description: 

Streatfeild joined the navy at the age of thirteen, attaining the rank of commander by the end of the Napoleonic Wars. As a naval officer he received instruction in draftsmanship for the purposes of preparing charts and keeping up the log book. He also would have been required to draw views of ports and fortifications for tactical purposes. About 1830 he began to travel around Europe, visiting France, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland. In 1842 he made a presentation album for the grand duchess Matilde of Hesse Darmstadt, composed chiefly of views around the principality. The Morgan album contains more finished views in watercolor of the same region, including two views of the park Teufelsklau ("Devil's Claw"), a view of Lichtenberg, views of Rodenstein, and one of the garden of Prinz Emil-Schloesschen.