This unidentified view of a packhorse bridge, possibly a scene in the Lake District, was in all likelihood 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, many after compositions by Dayes. It is, however, one of the small watercolours on card that were painted for Monro by Girtin alone that comes closest to this view. A similar packhorse bridge features in Buttermere Bridge, from the Fish Inn (TG0359) and though its construction with a low parapet to allow laden animals to cross unimpeded was not specific to the region, comparable structures feature extensively in Lake District views; not least in the work of Dayes whose view of Rosthwaite Bridge in Cumberland (The Higgins, Bedford (P.124)) features a similar structure, albeit with two arches, whilst another Dayes watercolour of an unidentified bridge with possible Lake District credentials comes even closer (see figure 1).

Girtin made a number of copies of his master’s Lake District subjects during his apprenticeship, including Lake Windermere and Belle Isle (TG0078). Since he was never to travel to one of the country’s most popular picturesque regions, for artists as well as their patrons and customers, Girtin continued to base his Lake District views on the work of others throughout his career, including a comparable composition worked after a sketch by his patron Sir George Beaumont (1753–1827) showing a bridge over the river Derwent at Watendlath (TG1584). 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 the source for their more finished Monro School 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 drawings of ‘Keswick, Glanton, Patterdale’ (Christie’s, 2 July 1833, lots 42 and 45), and there is scant evidence of Monro owning any of the older artist’s larger and more finished studio works. Typically, the precise Dayes source of this view has not been traced, though this does not mean we should look elsewhere for its model. Few of Dayes’ sketches have survived or been identified, and 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 employed by Monro.
Monro’s posthumous sale contained more than forty Lake District views, all of which were attributed solely to Turner. Unlike Girtin, Turner did visit the region, albeit initially briefly, in 1797. However, whilst some of the items in Monro’s sale may have resulted from this trip, the majority were noted as being in ‘blue and Indian ink’ and they therefore employed the restricted 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 (Wilton, 1984a, pp.8–23), though not hitherto in this case. Identifying the division of labour within Monro School drawings is considerably helped, as here, when the 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. The faded condition of the work regrettably means that Turner’s palette of greys and blues has changed to a uniform monochrome, but at least this has helped make Girtin’s contribution to the collaborative process clearer.

1795 - 1796

Buttermere Bridge, from the Fish Inn

TG0359

1791 - 1792

Lake Windermere and Belle Isle

TG0078

1799 - 1800

A Bridge over the River Derwent, Watendlath

TG1584