AN early watercolour of Bolton Abbey (circa 1798) is one of a number of ‘golden age’ works of art being placed on show to the public at Gainsborough’s House, in Sudbury, Suffolk.

The Bolton Priory painting pays homage to the landscape of Yorkshire and reminds of the importance of private patronage for an artist in the 18th Century.

The topographical watercolour of an iconic English subject was painted while visiting Edward Lascelles, the 1st Earl of Harewood. Turner was commissioned to paint no fewer than seven views around the estate. This significant commission enabled him to finance his very first major sketching tour.

The collection of paintings by Turner, Gainsborough, Constable and Lawrence will be on show until October.

David Moore-Gwyn, consultant and previously deputy chairman s of Sotheby’s UK, said: “We have an exciting opportunity to enjoy over the next few months a particularly interesting and varied group of pictures from a collection built up over the last thirty years.”