John Dillon, his sale, Christie's London, 29th April 1869, lot 139 (bt Agnew's);
Marquis de Santurce, his sale Christie's London, 16th June 1883, lot 124;
Sir John Fowler, his sale Christie's London 6th May 1899, lot 36 (bt. Agnew's);
Francis Stevenson;
E.G. Poole, his sale Christie's London, 1st October 1948, lot 20 (bt. Agnew's);
Miss J. E. Stainer, her sale Christie's London, 5th March 1974, lot 189 (bt. Leger);
with Richard Green Ltd

Sir Walter Armstrong, Turner, 1902, p.284;
Walter Thornbury, The Life of J.M.W. Turner RA, 2nd Edition, 1877, p. 560;
Andrew Wilton, The Life and Work of J. M. W. Turner, 1979, p. 432, no 1116;
Cecilia Powell, Turner's Rivers of Europe: the Rhine, Meuse and Mosel, 1991, p. 25;
Cecilia Powell, Turner in Germany, 1995, p. 23;
AGH Bachrach, 'The Field of Waterloo and Beyond,' Turner Studies, Vol. I (2), 1981, p. 8-9, no. 7&nb💎sp; 

Engraved:

W. Miller, Scott's Prose Works, 1834-6, (R. 539)

This report has been prepared by: JANE McAUSLAND London office: Flat 3, 41 Lexington Street, Soho, London W1F 9AJ Fellow of the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works Accredited member of the Institute of Paper Conservation Jane McAusland Limited trading as Jane McAusland FIIC. Support: This small watercolour is executed on a sheet of wove paper laid onto another sheet. This operation has been done some time ago and could have been done by the artist. The condition is good Medium: The colours are very fresh and bright. The retouching in the sky on the left is probably the artist's. Note: This work was viewed outside studio conditions.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In this exquisitely drawn landscape Turner presents the vast and undulating fields of Waterloo. Lightning flashes down and heavy rain clouds soak the tಞerrain below. A flock of sheep peacefully graze the slopes, seemingly impervious to the storm taking place, whilst two horsemen gallop as fast as possible towards the shelter of the farm buildings of Hou🥂goumont at the centre of the scene. In the near foreground lie the charred remains of the Picton tree, indicating that this is no ordinary pastoral landscape.

Turner visited Waterloo in August 1817, and completed an extensive and thorough investigation of the battlefields on horseback.[i] Relying upon Charles Campbell's recently published Guide through Belgium and Holland, 1817 and also possibly with the assistance of a local g🤡uide, Turner's precise movements are well 🀅documented in both the 'Guards' and the 'Waterloo and Rhine' sketchbooks.[ii]

Annotating his sketches with the graphic calculations of the number of men killed at specific sights, Turner appears to have been not only fascinated but genuinely moved. He was only seventeen when war with France was declared in 1793 and forty when it finally concluded in 1815 at the battle of Waterloo. Not surprisingly the foreign site of this British victory had 'become a kind of Pilgrimage' for those like Turner once confined to English shores.[iii] Drawn in 1833, eighteen years after the battle, and engraved for the frontispiece of Sir Walter Scott's 1835 publication, The Life of Napoleon (Fig.1), Turner offers a view of the aftermath of the war torn battlefields.

This watercolour belies expectation and artistic tradition on every conceivable level. Battle paintings of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century by artists such as John Singleton Copley and Benjamin West represented the most valiant and heroic British actions. War was publicly proclaimed as a glorious national event and artists responded. Historic battles were immortalised in scenes on the largest and most impressive scale possible.  Any disillusionment Turner might have felt towards the traditional representation of historic battle scenes was also echoed in the anxiety expressed by Romantic authors who sensitively and emotionally mourned the toll of human life.  Byron's hero in Canto III of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage published in 1816 does not glorify British victory at Waterloo but laments 'this place of skulls,/ The grave of France.'[iv] Following the Napoleonic wars considerable shifts took place in the representation of battles and the military 'hero'.[v] As this watercolour demonstrates; emptiness, small scale and watercolour could ingeniously, with Turner's brush, become as powerful aesthetic ingredients for depictions of war. Poignant reflection upon an empty battlefield replaces exuberant glorification of battle.

Only close observation of intricate natural detail enables comprehension of the significance of this deceptively pastoral landscape. Turner relies upon the most powerful and sublime representation of nature i🎐n the form of a lightning storm to ensure an awe inspiring impact for the viewer.  

[i] See Charles Campbell, The Travellers Complete Guide Through Belgium and Holland, 2^nd Edition, 1817, of which Turner owned a copy as quoted by Cecilia Powell, lit.op.cit., 1991, p. 21 and AGH Bachrach, lit.op.cit., 1981, p. 8.

[ii] The 'Guards' Sketchbook (TB CLXIV) and the 'Waterloo and Rhine' 𝕴Sketchbook (T🤡B CLX).

[iii] Charles Campbell, The Travellers Complete Guide Through Belgium and Holland, 2^nd Edition, 1817, as quoted in AGH Bachrach, lit.op.cit., 1981, p. 8.

[iv] As quoted in Cecilia Powell, lit.op.cit., 1991, p.20

[v] J.W. M. Hichberger, Images of the Army; the Military in British Art, 1815-1914, 1988, pp.1-7. In three subsequent scenes of Waterloo, Turner places not heroic actions but the mass of dead and dying soldiers in the near foreground, directly in front of the viewer see The Field of Waterloo, RA, 1818, oil on canvas (Tate Britain), The Field of Waterloo, 1817, watercolour (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge) and the third, The Field of Waterloo from Hougoumont, c.1833, watercolour vignette (Privﷺate Collection).