This view of an overshot mill, possibly in the Lake District, was made at the home of Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833), where Girtin and his contemporary Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) were employed across three winters, probably between 1794 and 1797. Their task, as they recalled to the diarist Joseph Farington (1747–1821), was to copy ‘the outlines or unfinished drawings of’ principally John Robert Cozens (1752–97), but other artists too, including Girtin’s master, Edward Dayes (1763–1804). The ‘finished drawings’ they were commissioned to produce were the result of a strict division of labour: ‘Girtin drew in outlines and Turner washed in the effects’. As the young artists reported, ‘They went at 6 and staid till Ten’, with Turner receiving ‘3s. 6d each night’ whilst ‘Girtin did not say what He had’ (Farington, Diary, 12 November 1798).¹ The outcome of their joint labours was substantial, amounting to several hundred drawings of which at least twenty are Lake District scenes after compositions by Dayes.

Girtin made a number of copies of his master’s views of the Lake District during his apprenticeship, including Lake Windermere and Belle Isle (TG0078). Since he was never actually to travel to one of the country’s most popular picturesque regions, for artists as well as their patrons and customers, he continued to base his Lake District views on the works of others throughout his career. As with the numerous copies that Girtin and Turner created from compositions by Cozens, it was the slight sketches and outlines that Dayes made on his travels that were used as the source for their more finished watercolours. Monro’s posthumous sale, in 1833, contained several hundred of Dayes’ sketches, including seven ‘Views on the lakes, blue and Indian ink’ as well as views of ‘Keswick, Glanton, Patterdale’, all presumably made on his only documented visit to the Lakes in 1789, but there is no evidence that Monro owned any of the older artist’s studio works (Exhibitions: Christie’s, 2 July 1833, lots 42 and 45). Typically, the precise Dayes source of this view of a mill has not been traced, though this does not mean we should look elsewhere for its model. Few of Dayes’ sketches have survived and, arguably, the fact that no source can be found suggests that it was a thoroughly unprepossessing drawing that required considerable transformational skills from the young artists. The possible identification of the building as the still surviving mill at Boot in Eskdale, with the bridge over Whillan Beck, has also proved elusive. Certainly, the building shown in the watercolour is closer in its appearance than another Monro School view that has traditionally been said to depict Eskdale Mill (TG0780), and Dayes could have taken in the location on his 1789 trip, as other Monro School subjects feature nearby views (TG0770 and TG0771). However, in the end, the visual evidence is not conclusive.

Monro’s posthumous sale contained more than forty Lake District views, all of which were attributed solely to Turner (Exhibitions: Christie’s, 26 June 1833; Christie’s, 1 July 1833). Unlike Girtin, Turner did visit the region, albeit briefly in 1797. However, whilst some of the items in the sale may have resulted from this trip, the majority were noted as being in ‘blue and Indian ink’ and therefore employed the same palette associated with the Monro School works. The attribution of the Lake District views to Turner alone has been challenged in recent years, following the publication of Andrew Wilton’s pioneering article in 1984, and Girtin’s contribution to this work has recently been widely acknowledged (Wilton, 1984a, pp.8–23). Identifying the division of labour within Monro School drawings is considerably helped, as here, when the colour washes leave some of the pencil work untouched in order to create highlights, so that Girtin’s distinctive hand is clearly identifiable across the drawing. Indeed, as Wilton has observed, the watercolour is notable for the interplay of the pencil work and the subtle palette of blues and greys, which create a range of subtle light effects whilst also delineating a complex landscape (Wilton, 2001, pp.35–36).

In recent correspondence Jeremy Yates has made the highly plausible suggestion that the watercolour depicts Nant Mill, Betws Garmon, North Wales on the basis of comparisons with views by Francis Towne (1739–1816) and Julius Ceasar Ibbeton (1759–1817) among others (email dated 17 November 2024). The text for this entry will therefore need to be redrafted for the next update of the site in January 2025 when the title too will be changed to reflect Yates' exemplary research.

1791 - 1792

Lake Windermere and Belle Isle

TG0078

1794 - 1797

Cynwyd Mill, North Wales

TG0780

1794 - 1797

Boon Crag Cottage, with Coniston Water Beyond

TG0770

1794 - 1797

A View in Cumbria, Probably Looking from Irton Fell towards Ravenglass

TG0771