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 (Exhibitions: 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 from George Wyndham Girtin (1836–1912) to ‘William Tiffin’ dated 16 August 1860, though it may be that the name was confused by the purchaser. A note on the reverse records that the four drawings purchased included Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey (TG1674) (Girtin Archive, 24, O/1860-64).

1800 - 1801

A View on the River Wharfe

TG1674