The Quarters behind Alresford Hall, John Constable (1816)
This painting depicts the ‘little fishing house’ (now known as ‘the Quarters’) at Alresford Hall. The Quarters had been built in the 1770s, in the fashionable chinoiserie style, for Slater Rebow’s father-in-law. During the mid eighteenth century, Chinese garden pavilions were frequently placed beside lakes or ponds and were used for informal parties, fishing or boating. The closely observed details of Constable’s scene (the dappled light, the lilies on the still water, the skimming swallows) indicate not only the season but also the time of day: a late summer’s afternoon.
