- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- A Farmyard with Cattle, Poultry and Labourers Unloading Hay, Possibly Pinkney's Farm, Wimbish
- Date
- 1800 - 1801
- Medium and Support
- Graphite, watercolour and gum arabic on laid paper, on an original mount
- Dimensions
- 32 × 52.5 cm, 12 ⅝ × 20 ⅝ in
- Mount Dimensions
- 45.1 × 65.5 cm, 17 ¾ × 25 ¾ in
- Object Type
- Samuel William Reynolds: Dealer; Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Essex View; Picturesque Vernacular; Rural Labour
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1757
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 1995
Provenance
Elizabeth Weddell (née Ramsden) (1749–1831); probably bequeathed to John Charles Ramsden (1788–1836); then by descent to Phyllida Gordon-Duff-Pennington (née Pennington-Ramsden, 1929–2011); Sotheby’s, 9 April 1992, lot 41, as 'A Farmyard with Cattle, Poultry and Labourers Unloading Hay', unsold; Sotheby’s, 12 April 1995, lot 64, £25,300; bought by the Leger Galleries, London; bought by the Art Institute, 1995
Exhibition History
Chicago, 1995, no catalogue; Chicago, 2004, no.10
Bibliography
Anonymous, 2000, pp.62–63; Smith, 2002b, p.168; Gallery Website as 'Phineas Borret's Farm near Saffron Walden' (Accessed 20/09/2022)
Place depicted
Other entries in Late Watercolours:
Samuel William Reynolds and Painting for the Art Market
An Imaginary City, with Antique Buildings
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Ancient Ruins, with an Obelisk
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Ancient Ruins, with a Gothic Church
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
A Classical Composition, with a Church and Column
Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool
The Arch of Janus, Rome
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Temple of Clitumnus
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Rome: The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Rome: The Temple of Saturn, with the Arch of Septimius Severus
Private Collection
A Town on an Estuary
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
A Lagoon Capriccio
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
An Unidentified Coastal Landscape with a Windmill
Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight
Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Lindisfarne Priory, Northumberland (English Heritage)
Kelso Abbey: The West Front
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Jedburgh Abbey, from the Riverbank
The Higgins, Bedford
On the River Medway, with a Boatyard, Beached Vessels and Hulks
Private Collection
Bisham Abbey, on the River Thames
Private Collection
A Classical Composition, with Figures Admiring the Sculptures
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
An Unidentified Ruin next to a Bridge over a Stream, Said to Be Furness Abbey
Touchstones Rochdale
The Gatehouse of Morpeth Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Buildings on the River Nidd, near Knaresborough
British Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Hill
British Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Bridge, Morning
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from the Canal, Evening
Private Collection
A Distant View of Kirkstall Abbey
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum, Birkenhead
An Unidentified Scene, Formerly Known as ‘Kirkstall Village’
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Wetherby Bridge and Mills, Looking across the Weir
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills
British Museum, London
Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills
Leeds Art Gallery
Kirk Deighton, near Wetherby
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
York: The New Walk on the Banks of the River Ouse
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
York: The Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
York: The Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern
Private Collection
York Minster from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
Private Collection
A Farmyard with Barns, Ladder and Figures; A Sky Study
Courtauld Gallery, London
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Leeds Art Gallery
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Private Collection
Ripon Minster, from the South East
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Ripon Minster, from the South West
Private Collection
The Abbey Mill, near Knaresborough
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Mountain Stream in Spate, Possibly the River Wharfe
Private Collection
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church from across the River Wharfe
Eton College, Windsor
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church, from across the River Wharfe
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church, from across the River Wharfe
Leeds Art Gallery
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Private Collection
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Private Collection
The Banks of the River Wharfe, with Bolton Abbey in the Distance
Private Collection
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Storiths Heights, near Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Richmond Castle, from the River Swale
Leeds Art Gallery
A Farmhouse in Malhamdale, Known as 'Kirkby Priory, near Malham'
British Museum, London
An Ancient Oak, Said to Be on the River Ure
Private Collection
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Private Collection, Norfolk
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Private Collection
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Guisborough Priory: The Ruined East End
Tate, London
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory; The Tithe Barn, Abbotsbury
Private Collection, Norfolk
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Private Collection
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Upland Landscape, Said to Show Etal Castle
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The River Tweed at Kelso, Looking Upstream
Courtauld Gallery, London
The Eildon Hills, from the River Tweed
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
A Distant View of Dryburgh Abbey, with the Eildon Hills Beyond
Private Collection
The Valley of the Tweed, with Melrose Abbey in the Distance
Private Collection
Jedburgh Abbey, from Jed Water
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Jedburgh Abbey, from the South East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Village of Jedburgh
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Southampton: The South Gate and Old Gaol
Private Collection
Bristol Harbour, with St Mary Redcliffe in the Distance
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
A Wharf with Shipping, Possibly at Bristol
Art Institute of Chicago
A Rainbow over the River Exe
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
A Rainbow over the River Exe
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
A Rainbow over the River Exe
Graves Gallery, Sheffield
Lydford Castle, from the River Lyd
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
St Vincent’s Rocks and the Avon Gorge
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
On the River Taw, North Devon, Looking from Braunton Marsh towards Instow and Appledore
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Conwy Castle, from the River Gyffin
Private Collection, Norfolk
Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea (The White House, Chelsea)
Tate, London
Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea
Private Collection, Norfolk
A Panoramic Landscape, with Figures Trawling a Pond
Private Collection
Landscape with a Distant Ridge, Possibly Hampstead Heath
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Inn Yard, Edgware Road, Paddington
British Museum, London
The Thames from a Window of the Old Toy Inn, Hampton Court
British Museum, London
The Old Cottage, Widmore, near Bromley
British Museum, London
Shipping on the River Medway
Museum of New Zealand, Wellington
A Farmyard with Cattle, Poultry and Labourers Unloading Hay, Possibly Pinkney's Farm, Wimbish
Art Institute of Chicago
Farmhouse and Outbuildings, Possibly in Essex
Aberdeen Art Gallery
An Unidentified Village Street with a Church Tower in the Distance
British Museum, London
A Panoramic Landscape, Possibly Showing Primrose Hill, London
Private Collection
Unidentified Landscape with a Distant Rain Shower
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
Warkworth Church, with the Bridge Beyond
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
An Italianate Landscape with Two Monks
Private Collection
Footnotes
- 1 The details are contained in a letter from Reynolds to Sawrey Gilpin (1733–1807). The letter is transcribed in the Documents section of the Archive (1801 – Item 4).
- 2 The letter detailing the sales of Girtin’s works by Reynolds is transcribed in full in the Documents section of the Archive (1803 – Item 3).
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About this Work
This fine late watercolour of a farmyard and barns reflected in the still water of a pond has been identified as showing one of the properties in Essex owned by Girtin’s father-in-law, Phineas Borrett (1756–1843). The same substantial thatched barn located next to water features in a small sketch probably made in Girtin’s last year (TG1790), and comes from a group of drawings some of which do indeed appear to have been based on scenes in Essex, rather than being works of the imagination. However, if the watercolour does show a scene on one of the properties that the London goldsmith bought as an investment (which remained in the ownership of the Girtin family well into the nineteenth century), it is likely that the artist turned to an earlier sketch made on a trip to Essex that probably took place in 1799, rather than journeying once again to the area in 1801–2.
The watercolours of picturesque farm scenes that were the outcome of the commission for Borrett, such as another view of Pinkney’s Farm, Wimbish (TG1413), were no doubt designed to celebrate the ‘pure charms of the country, the quiet, the simplicity, and innocence of rural life’, as one contemporary writer put it, and thus ‘tranquilize the perturbations’ of city dwellers (Williams, 1804, pp.16–17). This watercolour, although ostensibly similar in terms of subject, was produced in quite different circumstances, and to another agenda not set by a patron. Thus, although the work may have been painted a year or two later at the most, it almost certainly formed part of the stock of Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835), who acted on behalf of Girtin in his final years in a role somewhere between agent and dealer. Girtin began supplying Reynolds with his works for sale on the open market around 1800, and a watercolour such as this, which conforms to the larger of two standard sizes, was valued initially at seven guineas, quickly rising to ten pounds (Reynolds, Letter, 1801).1This was the price that Elizabeth Weddell (1749–1831), the probable first owner of this work, paid for a group of five other watercolours that include some of the artist’s finest late works (such as TG1725 and TG1743) (Reynolds, Letter, 1803).2 The point is that, whilst for Borrett an image of an Essex farmyard commissioned from the artist would have had a personal meaning related to his investment in rural property of money earned in the city, for Weddell the work’s attractions are more likely to have been centred on its effective display of the artist’s special skills. A timeless scene of rural activities amongst picturesque vernacular buildings it may be, but a third of the image is taken up with a reflection that is calculated to demonstrate Girtin’s ability to render rural life as pattern and shape that border on the abstract.
On a technical note, the paper historian Peter Bower has identified the support used by Girtin as an off-white laid drawing cartridge by an unknown Dutch maker (Bower, Report). It is therefore the same as that used by the artist for A Mountain View, near Beddgelert (TG1322), Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Bridge, Morning (TG1636) and A View on the River Wharfe (TG1674). Unusually for a later work by Girtin, the watercolour is in good condition, having lost only a little of the blues and greens that in so many other cases have faded because of the use of fugitive pigments. In this example, the warm tonality was always a part of the watercolour’s effect, rather than a result of a change in colour such as is seen in the farm scenes painted for Borrett.
A badly faded and poor-quality copy of the work by an unknown follower (see figure 1) is in the collection of the Cooper Gallery, Barnsley.
(?) 1802
A Barn by a Pond
TG1790
(?) 1799
Pinckney’s Farm, Radwinter
TG1413
1800
The Village of Jedburgh
TG1725
1800 - 1801
Landscape with a Distant Ridge, Possibly Hampstead Heath
TG1743
1798 - 1799
A Mountain View, near Beddgelert
TG1322
1800 - 1801
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Bridge, Morning
TG1636
1800 - 1801
A View on the River Wharfe
TG1674