John Constable RA (1776-1837)Autograph letter signed John Constable to Archdeacon John Fisher,

John Constable RA (1776-1837) Autograph letter signed 'John Constable' to Archdeacon John Fisher, dated 13 August 1819 Concerning a possible commission from General and Mrs Rebow at Wivenhoe Park. He also discusses his new-born daughter(Maria Louisa) and asks Fisher to be godfather. He also mentions a picture by Cozens he has sent to Fisher, and that the artist William Collins will be passing through Salisbury. 'I am under an engagement to paint the portraits of General and Mrs Rebow at Wivenhoe Park...a more lovely little girl at a month old was never seen. We are so proud of her and at the same time so ambitious as to be induced to ask a great favour. It is our united wish to be allowed to name you for her Godfather...I have been so much occupied that I delayed for some time sending you the Cozens...Collins left London today...He intends passing a day at Salisbury in the middle of next week.' Brown ink on paper, with remnants of black seal 22.7 x 37cm; 9 x 14½in Unframed Provenance: John Marshall; And by descent to the present private collector, Wiltshire Literature: Charles Robert Leslie, Life and Letters of John Constable (London, Chapman and Hall, 1896), p.91; Ronald Brymer Beckett, John Constable's Correspondence (Suffolk Records Society, 1964), pp.47-48 John Constable and John Fisher were close friends. Fisher officiated at Constable’s wedding, and has been described as the painter’s closes friend in the 1820s. Fisher was also one of the artist’s most important patrons, purchasing The White Horse, the first of the famous ‘six-footers’.