Preparing for a nightmare

Sir Cuthbert Quilter, previous owner of this watercolour, was the founder of the National Telephone Company and M.P. for Sudbury from 1885 to 1906. He built Bawdsey Manor in Suffolk in 1886, and filled it with his remarkable collection of contemporary art and Old Masters, ranging from the Pre-Raphaelites to Gainsborough and Northern European masters.