British school (XIX), monogrammed JA - A stone bridge over a rocky river

British School, 19th century

A stone bridge over a rocky river

Oil on panel, monogram “JA” visible under ultraviolet light

60 × 37 cm.

About 1850–1870. Sold without the frame.
A single-arch stone bridge crosses a fast river between rocks. Two small figures stand on the parapet. On the left bank, two cottages with red roofs sit among trees; the right bank is closed by autumn foliage. The sky is pale and high. Thin paint, the water dragged in short strokes, the distance dissolved in warm haze.
A monogram reading JA is reported in the lower area under ultraviolet light. It is not legible in ordinary light. No other inscription on the reverse, which is a plain panel with an old hanging wire. The mark is not enough to name a painter: several British landscapists of this date used the initials J.A., and none can be fixed from the photographs.
The date follows the handling and the support. The bridge-and-cottage formula, the yellowed varnish and the thin panel paint belong to the middle of the century, after the picturesque river views of the 1830s and before the looser open-air work of the 1880s. About 1850–1870 is the likely range.
Style

Romanticism.
Literature

No monograph can be cited for an unidentified monogram. For the type of picture:

Christopher Wood, Victorian Painters, Woodbridge, Antique Collectors’ Club, revised editions.

Andrew Wilton and Anne Lyles, The Great Age of British Watercolours, 1750–1880, London, Royal Academy, 1993 (for the river-and-bridge formula this oil follows).
Support

Oil on panel. The ornate gilt frame in the photographs is damaged and is not part of the sale. The picture will be sent unframed.
Condition

Overall yellowed varnish, fine craquelure, small losses and old scratches, including a pale fleck in the sky above the bridge. Ultraviolet light shows scattered small retouches rather than a large restoration. Not cleaned.
Dimensions

Work: 60 × 37 cm.

Frame not included.