Five views in County Wicklow: The Great and Little Sugarloafs; The Great and Little Sugarloafs, from The Scalp; Figures beside trees, probably in the Powerscourt Demesne; Loch Tay looking north; and Bray, with the Little Sugarloaf in the distance

Lear went to Ireland in 1835 with his friend Arthur Stanley (later Dean of Westminster), as well as Stanley's brother, father and uncle, for the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS) in Dublin from 10 to 15 August. When the meeting finished, part of the group set off to walk through Wicklow, and Lear made a sketchbook of drawings, of which this and the following lot are the largest group known to remain. Arthur Stanley's diaries were later published, and give some idea of how the journey might have looked.
The first three of these drawings were probably taken in or near Lord Powerscourt's deerpark. The view of Loch Tay shows the rocky scarp of Luggala on the left. The view of Bray is an important record of the appearance of the town before the arrival of the railway in 1854. Taken from outside the Market House on market day, it must date from either Saturday 22 or Tuesday 25 August, on Lear's return journey to Dublin.