David Cox, Sen., O.W.S. (Birmingham 1783-1859)

David Cox made many sketching tours to Wales from the 1830s onwards, and provided illustrations for Thomas Roscoe's Wanderings and Excursions in North Wales (1836) and a later companion volume on South Wales. He was drawn particularly to the mountainous landscape of North Wales, and between 1844 and 1856 he made yearly visits to the area in the vicinity of Bettws-y-Coed, where the present drawing was probably made.