Lakeside scene with cattle, Lakeside scene with a house
John Rathbone, known as 'The Manchester Wilson' remains an enigmatic figure, although many of his landscapes bear little resemblance to the real work of Richard Wilson (1714-82). The artist is recorded in Preston in 1774 (rather than Manchester). He was companion to both George Morland (1763-1804) and Julius Caesar Ibbetson (1759-1817), as well as an Ibbetson collaborator. These two works resulted from such a collaboration and probably accounts for the inscription of Ibbetson on the frames.
