Peter Toft Watercolour

A fine watercolour of the front gate of Herstmonceux Castle Sussex displaying great attention to detail. The painting was exhibited in Liverpool in 1879.

Peter Toft was born in Kolding, Denmark in 1802. In 1849 he sailed into San Fransisco Bay aboard the ship Ohio. After unsuccessfully panning for gold around the Trinity River, he returned to San Francisco where he contributed illustrations to Harper's. He signed his works in various ways: Tofft, Tufts, Toffts, Toft, and with his monogram, the letter T with a circle drawn around its stem. He returned to Kolding in 1869 before settling in London in 1870 where he remained until his death in 1901.