This study of burdock, a large-leafed riverside perennial to be found throughout Britain, may be related to sketches of docks and grasses made at Brighton in July 1828, now in the British Museum (See Reynolds, numbers 28.14, 28.15 and 28.16); alternatively an earlier date of 1810-12 has also been suggested because of the background colouring. Thomas Barratt was a director of A. F. Pears, the soap manufacturers, who, both by purchase and commission, formed an important collection of paintings, which includes Sir John Everett Millais' Bubbles. These images were often used to advertise and promote the company.
Isabel Constable Christie's Sale 17 June 1892 (lot number unknown) Thomas J Barratt Baron Kojiro Matsukata (1865-1950) probably acquired c. 1914
Graham Reynolds The Later Paintings and Drawings of John Constable, 1984, page 194, number 28.20, illustrated number 697