Bala Lake

Name: Bala Lake | The Swan Gallery
SKU: O/521/07
Price: 65.00 GBP
Availability: InStock

Medium: aquatint

Artist: T. Compton

Engraver: I. Baily

Dated: 1818

Image Dimensions: 9¾" x 7" (24.77cm x 17.78cm)

Price: £65.00

This 1817 hand-coloured aquatint, titled “Bala Lake,” is an authentic topographical print depicting Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) in Gwynedd, North Wales. The view is oriented looking southwest down the basin of the glacial lake toward the Arenig and Aran mountain ranges.

Drawn by artist Thomas Compton and engraved by James Baily, the plate specifically captures the northeast shoreline near the market town of Bala before the natural water level was later modified by civil engineering works.

Technically, the print utilizes aquatint etching on woven paper to establish precise structural outlines and terrain shading. This tonal base is finished with contemporary hand-colouring to delineate the distinct geological zones and seasonal foliage of the Merionethshire landscape. The plate was published by I. Clark in London for the specialized topographical volume, “The Northern Cambrian Mountains; or, A Tour Through North Wales,” making it a highly accurate document of early 19th-century Welsh geography.