Walter Benjamin Tiffin (1795–1877) was a print dealer and publisher who began his career in London on the staff of Hurst, Robinson & Co. in 1823 but later set up on his own, increasingly selling watercolours and old master drawings as well. His posthumous sale included three watercolours by Girtin (Christie’s, 28 May 1877), but it is not known whether he was the ‘Tiffin’ who was recorded as making a series of purchases at earlier sales. The Girtin Archive (at the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum) includes an invoice dated 16 August 1860 from Tiffin to George Wyndham Girtin (1836–1912) that reads '4 Drawings by Girtin – £48'. A note on the reverse, presumably added by Thomas Girtin (1874–1960), records that the four drawings purchased by the artist's grandson were 'Stepping Stones' (TG1684), 'Kirkstall Village' (TG1639), 'Bridge Pont y Pair' (TG1332) and 'Mayors Walk' (TG1046) (Girtin Archive, 24, O/1860-64).

1800 - 1801

Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey

TG1684

1801

Kirkstall Village

TG1639

1798 - 1799

Pont y Pair, Betws-y-Coed

TG1332

1796 - 1797

York: The New Walk on the Banks of the Ouse

TG1046