John Allnutt (1773–1863) was a prosperous wine merchant who built up an impressive collection of old masters and modern art that included significant groups of works by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) and John Constable (1776–1837). He was the first owner of Girtin’s Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey (TG1685), though this was not likely to have been a commission, and he also lent an unidentified Town Scene to the exhibition of watercolours organised by the Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1823 (Exhibitions: SPWC, 1823, no.162). His posthumous sale in 1863 contained three unidentified works by Girtin and other sales records indicate that he was an important early collector of the artist’s work (Exhibitions: Christie’s, 18–20 June 1863).

1800 - 1801

Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey

TG1685