Auction introduction: Over the centuries, artists have used drawings for so many different purposes, and their function often affects their style and form as much as the period or location of their creation. Many drawings were made for the purposes of training and learning – copies after works by earlier masters, and figure studies in particular. Others are preparatory studies for other works of art or objects, including paintings, prints, metalwork, textiles, and even buildings. Some works on paper were made simply as works of art in their own right: landscape watercolours, portrait drawings and works of topographical and natural history significance, to name just a few. In this wide-ranging sale, we will present works on paper of all these types, in media as varied as chalk, pen and ink, watercolour and pastel, produced across the whole of Western Europe, from the 16th to the 19th centuries. With works ranging in price from a few hundred pounds up to £10,000, and including an enormous variety of periods, styles and subjects, there will be something of interest in this sale for anyone at all with a fascination for the process of making art, in all its incarnations.