The rugged high ground of Hampstead Heath standing at the edge of (but not yet within) London was one of John Constable’s favourite and frequent landscape subjects. Constable had first taken lodgings in Hampstead in August 1819, when he rented Albion Cottage on Upper Heath with his wife Maria and two children. Maria was already weak from symptoms of the tuberculosis that would eventually lead to her death in 1828. Hampstead was then a small village in fairly rural surroundings, located on a low ridge overlooking the Thames valley, with open country to the north and west. Seven miles away to the west lay the village of Harrow, whose prominent church steeple features in a number of Constable’s sketches and drawings. Hampstead’s situation made it an admirable location for the study of the skies, and it was here that Constable embarked on the series of detailed observations of clouds and their related weather patterns that were to form such an original and iconic part of his oeuvre. In this composition, over half of the canvas is given to the depiction of the rosy clouds in the sunset sky, true to his lifelong artistic preoccupation with the changing weather. The canvas is boldly dated and signed with ARA postnominals, Constable not being elected a full Academician until 1829.

Constable painted numerous views of Hampstead and its surroundings during the 1820s. This composition in particular is based on a plein-air sketch dated 1820-23, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum (G. Reynolds, no. 25.12). Certain elements have been altered from the sketch: Constable has adopted a lower viewpoint, as well as more detailed figures.

Constable himself described the view in a letter to Francis Darby, who bought another version of this composition, as ‘a scene on Hampstead Heath, called Child’s Hill. Harrow with its spire in the distance. Serene afternoon, with sunshine after rain, and heavy clouds passing off. Harvest time, the foreground filled with cattle & figures, and an Essex market cart’ (R.B. Beckett, ed., John Constable’s Correspondence, Suffolk Records Society, 1962-68, vol. IV, p. 97).

This composition of Child’s Hill exists in more than one version. It is almost certain that the Victoria and Albert Museum sketch was seen by the Parisian art dealer Claude Schroth when he visited Constable’s studio on 22 May 1824, as he subsequently commissioned a painting representing this prospect along with a pendant view of Branch Hill Pond, Hampstead Heath (G. Reynolds, no. 25.7). Our painting, which is also dated 1824, must have been painted immediately after the Schroth (Rijksmuseum Twenthe) version, with Anne Lyles stating that, of all the subsequent versions of the Child’s Hill composition, ours compares most closely with the Schroth picture.

At this point in his career, Constable’s work was being met with much acclaim, especially from a French audience. In the summer of 1824, he exhibited two large works at the Salon and, for his efforts, was awarded a gold medal by Charles X. His manner of painting seemed to resonate more strongly with French rather than English taste, and Constable’s work made a visible impact upon both Delacroix and Regnault. Critical approval was swiftly followed by commercial demand for his most successful compositions, and Child’s Hill evidently being amongst these, Constable painted subsequent versions to satisfy this demand. This is evidenced in a letter dated 17 December 1824, in which Constable explained to his close friend the Rev. John Fisher how he came to paint other versions of each of the pictures: ‘I have painted two of my best landscapes for Mr Schroth at Paris. They will soon go but I have copied them, so it is immaterial which is sent away.’ Given that our painting relates most closely to the Schroth version (and the fact that Constable clearly felt there was no difference between the Schroth and this second pair) it is entirely possible that Constable was here referring to our picture, although if he does, its supposed pendant Branch Hill Pond has now been lost. Anne Lyles has suggested the possibility that our picture may have been commissioned by another Parisian art dealer, John Arrowsmith (1790 – 1849). Arrowsmith introduced Schroth to Constable and together they built the painter’s reputation and market in France.

In addition to the Schroth pair and our picture, Constable painted another pair of views which were exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1825 and then purchased by Francis Darby, the son of the Shropshire industrialist Abraham Darby III. The Child’s Hill, Harrow picture was sold at auction (Sotheby’s, 15 Nov. 1989, lot 73) and the Branch Hill Pond, Hampstead Heath pendant is now in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond.

According to the late father of the present owner, our painting was owned by a William J. Darby of 47 Grosvenor Square, London, presumably a descendant of Francis and the same ‘impoverished member of the Darby family’ mentioned by Graham Reynolds in a letter. Whilst it is possible that Francis Darby commissioned our painting as well as the pair exhibited at the Royal Academy, it is also possible that our picture’s provenance has been confused with that of the Darby pair.

We are grateful to Anne Lyles for confirming the attribution to John Constable following first hand inspection of the picture in July 2025 and for her help in preparing this note. The attribution to Constable was also previously endorsed by R.B. Beckett and Graham Reynolds.