- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- A Distant View of Corfe Castle
- Date
- 1795 - 1796
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 8 × 12.4 cm, 3 ⅛ × 4 ⅞ in
- Subject Terms
- Castle Ruins; The West Country: Devon and Dorset
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG0365a
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2019
Provenance
Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833); his posthumous sale, possibly Christie's, 26 June 1833, lot 80 or lot 83 as 'Views and ruins, in colours, on cards 20' by 'Turner'; ... Charles Morland Agnew (1855–1931); his widow, Evelyn Mary Agnew (d.1932); her posthumous sale, Christie’s, 24 March 1933, lot 18 as 'Loch Lomond; Kelso Abbey; and Corfe Castle, three in one frame'; bought by 'T. Agnew', £3 13s 6d; Thos. Agnew & Sons; John Ross; then by descent; Christie's, 2 July 2019, lot 179, £2,000
Place depicted
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Part of the Ruins of Middleham Castle
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Kidwelly Church, with the Castle Beyond
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Kelso Abbey, from the North West
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The Keep, Portchester Castle, from the North East
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Part of the Ruins of Middleham Castle
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Margam Abbey Church, from the North West
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The Medieval Kitchen, Stanton Harcourt
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Part of the Ruins of Lewes Castle, from the West
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Glasgow High Street, Looking towards the Cathedral
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The Keep of Hedingham Castle, from the East
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An Unidentified Church close to a Road
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The Keep of Hedingham Castle, from the South West
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Kirkstall Abbey, from the North West
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Kirkstall Abbey, from the North West
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The Ruined Gateway of Mettingham Castle
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The Keep of Rochester Castle, Seen from outside the Walls
The Keep of Rochester Castle, Seen from outside the Walls
Tate, London
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Tintern Abbey, from the River Wye
Tintern Abbey, from the River Wye
Private Collection
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Tintern Abbey: The View from the Nave
Private Collection
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The Market at Aberystwyth
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
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Lancaster Castle, from the River Lune
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Lancaster Castle, from the River Lune
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Lancaster Priory Church, Seen with the Old Bridge over the River Lune
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Buttermere Bridge, from the Fish Inn
Tate, London
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The Medieval Kitchen, Stanton Harcourt
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Rochester Cathedral, from the North East, with the Castle Beyond
Tate, London
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Glasgow High Street: Looking towards the Cathedral
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A Distant View of Corfe Castle
Tate, London
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Chichester Cathedral, from the South West
Tate, London
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The Gatehouse of Amberley Castle
Tate, London
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A Lake and Mountains, Possibly in the Lake District
Tate, London
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A Lake and Mountains, Possibly in the Lake District
A Lake and Mountains, Possibly in the Lake District
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An Unidentified View across a Lake, or along a Coast
Tate, London
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A Road by a Pond, with a Church in the Distance
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Thomas Girtin
A Road by a Pond, with a Church in the Distance
A Road by a Pond, with a Church in the Distance
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A Church Tower amongst Trees, with a Cart in the Foreground
British Museum, London
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An Unidentified Landscape, with a Church amongst Trees
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Trees near a Lake or River, at Twilight
Tate, London
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A Hilly Landscape, with a Two-Arched Bridge
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A Distant View of Tynemouth Priory, from the Sea
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An Upland Landscape, Possibly in Northumberland
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A Bridge in the Lake District, Possibly Grange Bridge, Borrowdale
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Bridgnorth, on the River Severn
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Knaresborough, from the River Nidd
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About this Work
This informal sketch-like view of the ruins of Corfe Castle in Dorset is based on one of the forty or so outline drawings by Girtin that came from the collection of Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833) and that now form part of the Turner Bequest at Tate Britain (another being TG0365). The precise source of Girtin’s drawing has not been identified, but it is clear that the artist had not visited Corfe by the probable date of its production, and the image must therefore have been taken from the work of another artist, probably his earliest patron, James Moore (1762–99). The watercolours, all painted on paper measuring roughly 3 × 4 3/4 in (7.6 × 12.1 cm), were produced for Monro around 1795–96. Many of these were acquired by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) after the patron’s death and are now part of the Turner Bequest at Tate Britain, but this work was separated from the rest of the group and only reappeared on the art market in 2019, along with another comparable view of Kelso Abbey (TG0270a). The two works were once framed with a third small watercolour, of Loch Lomond (TG0873), and all appear to have been made for Monro. Any doubts about the attribution of the watercolours on the grounds of quality are allayed by the fact that the views of both Kelso and Corfe are based on pencil drawings that are clearly by Girtin himself (TG0270 and TG0365).
It has been suggested that Monro may have had a publication in mind when he commissioned Girtin to produce watercolours such as this (Wilton, 1984a, p.12). But, though its small-scale certainly suits the watercolour to reproduction as a book illustration, its rapid execution and sketch-like appearance, suggesting that the work was made on the spot, indicate that it was produced as a different kind of commodity. The subjects chosen for this informal sketch-like treatment certainly do not follow any obvious pattern, other than being generally amongst the lesser known of the nation’s medieval monuments. Indeed, Monro was unsystematic in his commissions, and it may be that there was nothing that united the group other than the fact that Girtin’s outlines provided a ready resource from which sketch-like watercolours might be rapidly produced.
1794 - 1795
A Distant View of Corfe Castle
TG0365
1795 - 1796
Kelso Abbey, from the North West
TG0270a
1795 - 1796
Loch Lomond
TG0873
(?) 1795
Kelso Abbey, from the North West
TG0270
1794 - 1795
A Distant View of Corfe Castle
TG0365