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Views and Prospects Nᵒ.4: East Prospect of Birmingham by the Buck Brothers (1753)

East Prospect of Birmingham by Samuel and Nathaniel Buck, 1753.
Click to enlarge. Held by Birmingham Museums. Full size version, here.

This is a pencil, pen and ink wash of Birmingham produced by one of the Buck brothers as part their production of many town prospects for the Buck's Views series. When the image was engraved and published it included mid-Georgian men, women, and children strolling in the green and open foreground and a key of the principle buildings. It was reprinted in a coloured version in 1774 by Robert Sayer (below - poor image).

From a private collection, on sale here.


New to this prospect compared with earlier ones (see all here) was the inclusion of smoke billowing from chimneys, seen in the area near the newly built (1749) St. Bartholomew's Chapel. The buildings to the right of the Chapel were described as 'The Brass Works' on the published print, and were Turner's Brass Houses.

St. Bartholomew's Chapel and smoking chimneys.

The hill leading up to St. Philip's.

The spire of St. Martin.