Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave (1755–1831), welcomed Girtin to his estate at Mulgrave, near Sandsend on the North Yorkshire coast, probably in the summer of 1800. The diarist Joseph Farington (1747–1821) noted that Girtin ‘laboured under symptoms of an Asthma which not long afterwards killed him’ and that his host considered him ‘a good natured open dispositioned man’ (Farington, Diary, 24 May 1807). The artist made a number of sketches in the locality, including one of the ruined old castle of Mulgrave (TG1625), but these do not appear to have resulted in any commissions for finished watercolours from Phipps. A later family sale included two watercolours by Girtin (TG0354 and TG0888) and a ‘Coast from Sandsend. Presented by the artist to Hon. E. Phipps’, which may have been the sketch A Distant View of Whitby (TG1628) (Exhibitions: Christie’s, 29 May 1873, lot 78).

(?) 1800

The Ruins of Old Mulgrave Castle

TG1625

(?) 1797

The Ruined Chancel, Netley Abbey

TG0354

1799 - 1800

Rome: The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina

TG0888