This view of a boat-builder’s shed, like the other version of the composition (TG0833), at first sight displays many of the signs that mark the unique collaboration between Girtin and his contemporary Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) at the home of Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833). Here the two artists were employed across three winters, probably between 1794 and 1797, to copy ‘the outlines or unfinished drawings of’ principally John Robert Cozens (1752–97), but other artists too, including the patron’s neighbour, the amateur John Henderson (1764–1843), who lent his ‘outlines for this purpose’ (Farington, Diary, 30 December 1794). Henderson visited Dover in the autumn of 1794 and the ‘outlines of Shipping & Boats’ he made there, described by the diarist Joseph Farington (1747–1821) as ‘Very ingenious & careful’, provided the basis for a substantial number of copies of marine views commissioned by Monro (Farington, Diary, 1 December 1795). As with the copies the artists made after the sketches of Cozens, ‘Girtin drew in outlines and Turner washed in the effects’, with Turner receiving ‘3s. 6d each night’ though ‘Girtin did not say what He had’ (Farington, Diary, 12 November 1798).¹

Girtin is not known to have visited Kent and his views of the county’s churches and marine scenery were copied after other artists. Though Turner travelled to Dover in 1793 and executed a series of studio watercolours after his own sketches, the majority of the coastal scenes sold from Monro’s collection that were associated with him, numbering as many as a hundred, were still produced from secondary sources (Christie’s, 26 June 1833; Christie’s, 1 July 1833). Most of the Monro School coastal views were based on sketches made by Henderson in and around Dover, including A Boat on the Shore, near Shakespeare Cliff (TG0797), but there is no evidence that either this boat-building scene or two closely related drawings (TG0832 and TG0832a) depict the south-coast port; indeed, these watercolours have traditionally been said to represent scenes on the river Medway. Though there is no internal evidence to link any of the group with the river in Kent, the identification was presumably based on a contemporary inscription and it is therefore likely to be correct, especially as this view clearly shows a river rather than a coastal scene. The issue is complicated, however, by the fact that in comparison with the other version of the composition, an additional fishing vessel has been introduced at the centre, with its sails hung overboard to dry, and this extra element is copied directly from a Monro School drawing known as A Smack in Dover Harbour, Drying Sails (TG0825). Details such as the pattern created by the sails, the position and poses of the four figures, and the shape of the clothing hung on the rigging to dry are all repeated exactly in the different setting, with the result that the satisfying and well-ordered composition seen in other Monro School works is rendered confused and illogical here.

The clumsy way in which a fishing vessel from a Dover harbour scene is added to a different river view prompts questions about the attribution of a work that at first glance might seem to follow the standard Monro School practice of Girtin copying the outlines and Turner adding simple washes of grey and blue. However, it is hard to believe that Girtin would have inserted a literal copy of the boat into a different composition to such questionable effect, and the far from outstanding quality of the pencil work, inferior to the outlines seen in the smaller view of the boat-builder’s shed, does nothing to allay suspicions about his involvement. The watercolour washes too are perfunctory and poor in quality, neither creating a sense of space nor adding a decorative quality, and though I would stop short of stating categorically that Turner was likewise not involved in its production, that must be a strong possibility.

Another Monro School view of a vessel alongside riverside buildings (see figure 1) is from the same collection as this Medway scene and it is also now to be found at Tate Britain with an uncertain attribution to Turner. That watercolour displays many of the same weaknesses seen in TG0833b, both in its composition, which similarly seems to have been assembled from different sources, and in the monochrome washes which display none of Turner’s sensitive accommodation of his collaborator’s outlines and fail to employ light and shade to create a credible sense of distance. However, as with TG0833b, I would stop short of denying the involvement of either Turner or Girtin with any great confidence. Indeed, the pencil work, although partly obscured by the colour, shows flashes of the sort of brilliant invention that Girtin could bring to the most mundane of tasks and, arguably, his name might be attached to both works with slightly more confidence than Turner’s.

1795 - 1796

A Boat-Builder’s Shed, Possibly on the River Medway

TG0833

1795 - 1796

A Boat on the Shore, near Shakespeare Cliff, Dover

TG0797

1795 - 1796

A Boat-Builder’s Yard, Possibly on the River Medway

TG0832

1795 - 1796

A Boat-Builder’s Yard, Possibly on the River Medway

TG0832a

1795 - 1796

A Smack in Dover Harbour, Drying Sails, with the Old Church in the Distance

TG0825

1795 - 1796

A Boat-Builder’s Shed, Possibly on the River Medway, with a Fishing Boat with Drying Sails

TG0833b

1795 - 1796

A Boat-Builder’s Shed, Possibly on the River Medway, with a Fishing Boat with Drying Sails

TG0833b