John Sell Cotman (1782-1842), Kett’s Castle, Norwich, 1810, pencil and watercolour, Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery.

John Sell Cotman was arguably one of the most innovative British artists of the nineteenth-century. A leading member of the Norwich school, a primary reason why Cotman’s work is not more well-known in comparison to other artists from the same period, notably Turner and Constable, is that industrialist J.J. Colman – the third member of the family in charge of Colman’s Mustard – bought the majority of his canvases, and have since been on permanent display in Norwich Castle Museum since the 1880s. In total they possess 41 oil paintings, over 1,000 watercolours and other drawings, and over 1,000 etchings.