The Barley Mow (Clifton Hampden) by Pennell, Joseph

Pen and black ink on lightweight cream wove paper, 10 3/4 x 16 13/16 in. (272 x 421 mm). Signed, titled, and dated "August 1888" in black ink, lower right margin. Age and mat tone, scattered surface soiling, and multiple areas of expert in-painting and repairs of minor rubbing (and thinning) of sheet. One 1/4-inch expertly repaired horizontal edge tear, outside of image area, top left sheet edge. A beautiful, bright drawing with extensive detail. Undoubtedly created during an 1888 trip along the Thames, on which journey Pennell authored his beautiful 1891 narrative devotional to the allure of the river, "The Stream of Pleasure," this drawing shows the exterior view of the Barley Mow Inn, looking up an embankment towards the Inn's poppy garden, and parlour windows. Pennell remarked extensively about the Barley Mow Inn in his memoir, the original timber construct of which dates back to 1352. It's as if Pennell describes for us the scene in this beautiful drawing as it occurred in that very moment, including the sensory components of the tableu that existed beyond the margins of his sketchbook. He writes, "River men often make it their resting-place and taste a cup of ale there, for which liquor, as well as for substantial lunches and teas and dinners, and queer little bedrooms hidden away under the thatch, the house is very remarkable. For this there is the testimony of many in the Visitors' Book, among others of the Lazy Minstrel, and if he be not an authority on the Thames, then no man is. The hostess is always, with talk running fast as the river, waiting upon hungry people, in the little parlour, where one window looks out on the high road, and the other on the garden, in August full of tall poppies run to seed, and the walls are panelled, and the ceiling is so low every new-comer knocks his head against its huge beam. We got to Clifton Hampden on Friday evening; all day long on Saturday there was a constant going and coming. We never went out on the road between the inn and the river that we did not meet a stream of men in flannels and bright blazers; women in blue serges, gay blouses and sailor hats, on their way to the 'Barley Mow'." This lovely scene comes to life with Pennell's words, as one imagines lively banter and laughter echoing through the open parlour door and windows on a warm, summer Saturday, and the beauty of bright poppy gardens and dappled sunlight along the bucolic banks of the Thames. We can imagine that perhaps the lone figure in the scene is author Joseph Ashby-Sterry himself, who was a guest of the Inn during this period of time. Ashby-Sterry, author of The Lazy Minstrel (published 1892), perhaps signed his name as such in the Visitors' Book on that August day in 1888.