D. M. Paley, Pittville in Autumn

Pittville is the spa quarter of Cheltenham, developed for the lawyer, banker and MP Joseph Pitt from 1825. Its gardens were laid out around the Pump Room, with a lake made by damming Wyman's Brook.

The park is in full autumn colour. Two large trees in rust and orange fill the left of the sheet, with benches beneath them and a white railing beyond. Fallen leaves are laid in quick, wet washes across the grass.

Watercolour on paper, signed faintly in pencil lower right ‘Paley’. A handwritten label on the reverse gives the title ‘Pittville in Autumn’ and the name ‘D M Paley’, Cheltenham. In a cream mount within a dark-stained wooden frame.