An old typed label attached to the backboard reads 'This pencil drawing of Lincoln Cathedral by Peter de Wint was acquired in 1950 from G.H. Porter by Geoffrey Harmsworth. Porter was a grandson of J.H. Vokins, art dealer and friend of Peter de Wint. After the artist's death in 1849, Mrs. de Wint handed a number of oils and sketches to Vokins, and this drawing of Lincoln comes from that source'.