The painting above is a beautiful, early 19th century English landscape of the Thames at Reading, by the English artist William Carter RA (fl. 1843-1864). Still in its original frame, the painting boasts an excellent condition, as well as a very characteristic oval shape. Indeed, painting to the oval allows the artist to give a window-like effect to the canvas, and thus the painting itself acts as a window to transport its viewers to quaint and rural early 19th century England. The romantic landscape is just as moving and transporting as it would have been for its mid-Victorian London audience in the midsts of the industrial revolution as it is today in our bustling world of activity and speed.