Follower of Edward Dayes (1763-1804) - Castle on a hill with Shepherds

A well executed late 18th century watercolour of a medieval castle perched on a hilltop in the distance. This watercolour bears a resemblance to three of the leading English watercolourists of this period: William Marlow (1740-1813), Paul Sandby (1731-1809) and Edward Dayes (1763-1804). The group of trees to the left help to frame the composition in a capriccio style and could also help in identifying the artist who painted this work as the leaves are quite distinctive. Sandby and Dayes would often paint imaginary landscapes and this appears to potentially be one of these. There is a faint inscription in the bottom right hand corner that may be helpful but is hard to decipher. Further research would certainly help this work.
 
Medium: watercolour on paper, 15 x 26.4 cm, mounted.
 
Provenance: Bill Thompson (Albany Gallery).
 
We are grateful to Tom Mendel from the Nonesuch Gallery for help with cataloguing this work.