- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- A Sheet of Figure Studies: Women Washing Clothes at a River
- Date
- 1801 - 1802
- Medium and Support
- Graphite on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 11 × 17.7 cm, 4 ⅜ × 7 in
- Object Type
- Outline Drawing
- Subject Terms
- Figure Studies
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1901
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 484b as 'Two women washing clothes at a stream'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001 and 2018
Provenance
Thomas Calvert Girtin (1801–74); then by descent to George Wyndham Hog Girtin (1836–1912); then by a settlement to his sister, Mary Hog Barnard (née Girtin) (1828–99); then by descent to Francis Pierrepont Barnard (1854–1931); presented to the Museum, 1912
Bibliography
Brown, 1982, p.342, no.747 as 'Presumably another Paris study'
Other entries in Picturesque Views in Paris and Other French Subjects

The Tuileries Palace and the Pont Royal, Taken from the Quai d’Orsay: Pencil Study for Plate One of Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

The Tuileries Palace and the Pont Royal, Taken from the Quai d’Orsay: Colour Study for Plate One of Picturesque Views in Paris
Private Collection

The Louvre and the Pont Royal, Taken from the Pont Neuf: Pencil Study for Plate Two of Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

The Louvre and the Pont Royal, Taken from the Pont Neuf: Colour Study for Plate Two of Picturesque Views in Paris
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge

The Ile de la Cité, with the Louvre and the Pont Neuf in the Distance, Taken from the Pont Marie: Pencil Study for Plate Three of Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

Paris with the Louvre, Taken from the Pont Marie: Copy of Plate Three of Picturesque Views in Paris
Private Collection

The Ile de la Cité, with the Louvre and the Pont Neuf in the Distance, Taken from the Pont Marie: Colour Study for Plate Three of Picturesque Views in Paris
Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin – Madison

Pont Saint Michel, from the Pont Neuf: Pencil Study for Plate Four of 'Picturesque Views in Paris'
British Museum, London

Pont Saint Michel, from the Pont Neuf: Colour Study for Plate Four of 'Picturesque Views in Paris'
Private Collection

Paris: The Isle de la Cité and the River Seine, Taken from the Pont Neuf
Private Collection

A Panoramic View of Paris from Chaillot, Looking up the Seine with the Dome of Les Invalides: Pencil Study for Plate Five of Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

Panoramic View of Paris from Chaillot, Looking up the Seine with the Dome of Les Invalides: Colour Study for Plate Five of Picturesque Views in Paris
Private Collection

The Banks of the Seine, with the Dome of Les Invalides
Private Collection

The Tuileries Palace and the Pont Royal: Pencil Study for Plate Six of Picturesque Views in Paris
Private Collection

The Tuileries Palace and the Pont Royal, Taken from the Pont de la Concorde: Pencil Study for Plate Six of Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

The Tuileries Palace and the Pont Royal, Taken from the Pont de la Concorde: Colour Study for Plate Six of Picturesque Views in Paris
Private Collection

The Pont Neuf, Part of the Louvre, Notre Dame and the College of the Four Nations: Pencil Study for Plate Seven of Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

The Pont Neuf, Part of the Louvre, Notre Dame and the College of the Four Nations: Colour Study for Plate Seven of Picturesque Views in Paris
Private Collection

The Pont Neuf and the Mint: Pencil Study for Plate Eight of Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

The Pont Neuf and the Mint: Colour Study for Plate Eight of Picturesque Views in Paris
National Gallery of Art, Washington

Part of the Pont Neuf, with the Mint: Pencil Study for Plate Eight of Picturesque Views in Paris
Private Collection

The Pont au Change, the Théâtre de la Cité, the Pont Neuf and the Conciergerie Prison, Taken from the Pont Notre Dame: Pencil Study for Plate Nine of Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

The Pont au Change, the Théâtre de la Cité, the Pont Neuf and the Conciergerie Prison, Taken from the Pont Notre Dame: Colour Study for Plate Nine of Picturesque Views in Paris
Aberdeen Art Gallery

The Porte Saint-Denis, Viewed from the Suburbs: Possible Colour Study for Plate Ten of Picturesque Views in Paris
Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris

The Porte Saint-Denis, Viewed from the Suburbs: Possible Colour Study for Plate Ten of Picturesque Views in Paris
Tate, London

The Pont de la Tournelle and Notre Dame, Taken from the Arsenal: Pencil Study for Plate Eleven of Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

The Pont de la Tournelle and Notre Dame, Taken from the Arsenal: Colour Study for Plate Eleven of Picturesque Views in Paris
Private Collection

The Pantheon, from the Arsenal, Looking across the Seine: Pencil Study for Plate Twelve of Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

The Pantheon, from the Arsenal, Looking across the Seine: Colour Study for Plate Twelve of Picturesque Views in Paris
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

The Pantheon, from the Arsenal, Looking across the Seine: Pencil Study for Plate Twelve of Picturesque Views in Paris
Private Collection

Bellevue and the Pont de Sèvres, Taken from near the Pont de Saint-Cloud: Pencil Study for Plate Thirteen of Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

Bellevue and the Pont de Sèvres, Taken from the Terrace near the Pont de Saint-Cloud: Colour Study for Plate Thirteen of Picturesque Views in Paris
Private Collection

The Palace and Village of Choisy from the Banks of the Seine: Pencil Study for Plate Fourteen of Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

The Palace and Village of Choisy from the Banks of the Seine: Colour Study for Plate Fourteen of Picturesque Views in Paris
Private Collection

The Water Works at Marly, Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the Distance: Pencil Study for Plate Fifteen of Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

The Water Works at Marly, Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the Distance: Colour Study for Plate Fifteen of Picturesque Views in Paris
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

The View from the Palace Terrace at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the Aqueduct of Marly in the Distance: Pencil Study for Plate Sixteen of Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

The View from the Palace Terrace at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the Aqueduct of Marly in the Distance: Colour Study for Plate Sixteen of Picturesque Views in Paris
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence

The Village of Chaillot, Taken from the Pont de la Concorde: Pencil Study for Plate Seventeen of Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

The Village of Chaillot, Taken from the Pont de la Concorde: Colour Study for Plate Seventeen of Picturesque Views in Paris
Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton

Saint-Cloud and Mont Calvaire, Taken from the Pont de Sèvres: Pencil Study for Plate Eighteen of Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

Saint-Cloud and Mont Calvaire, Taken from the Pont de Sèvres: Colour Study for Plate Eighteen of Picturesque Views in Paris
Private Collection

The Banks of the Marne below the Bridge at Charenton: Pencil Study for Plate Twenty of Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

The Banks of the Marne below the Bridge at Charenton: Colour Study for Plate Twenty of Picturesque Views in Paris
Untraced Public Collection, Israel

The Champ de Mars, Seen from the Trocadéro, with Sèvres in the Distance: Unused Pencil Study for Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

The Watermill above the Bridge at Charenton, near Paris
British Museum, London

The Watermill above the Bridge at Charenton: Pencil Study for Plate Nineteen of Picturesque Views in Paris
British Museum, London

The Watermill above the Bridge at Charenton: Colour Study for Plate Nineteen of Picturesque Views in Paris
Private Collection

La Rue Saint-Denis, Paris: A Scene for Thomas Dibdin's Pantomime Harlequin's Habeas
Private Collection, Norfolk

Paris: Porte Saint-Denis and the Boulevard Saint-Denis
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Part of the Tuileries Palace with the Louvre (Place du Carrousel)
The Higgins, Bedford

Part of the Tuileries Palace with the Louvre (Place du Carrousel)
Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin

Paris: View over the Rooftops towards Montmartre
British Museum, London

Paris: The Ruins of the Roman Baths, Hôtel de Cluny
Tate, London

Paris: The Ruins of the Roman Baths, Hôtel de Cluny
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester

A Sheet of Figure Studies
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

A Sheet of Figure Studies Relating to Picturesque Views in Paris
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

A Sheet of Figure Studies: Women Washing Clothes at a River
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Studies of Women and Men, Including an Advocate Pleading
Private Collection

Paris: The Hôtel de Ville and the Church of Saint-Jean-en-Grève
Private Collection, Norfolk

The Church of Saint Corneille at Compiègne
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The Porte Chapelle, Compiègne
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Paris: The Entrance to the Hôtel du Grand Prieur du Temple
British Museum, London

An Interior View of the Nave of Laon Cathedral
British Museum, London

A Wooded River in an Extensive Landscape
Private Collection

A River Scene with a Castle on a Cliff
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

A Wooded Landscape with a Hermit
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Buildings by a Road, with Passing Figures
Private Collection
Revisions & Feedback
The website will be updated from time to time and, when changes are made, a PDF of the previous version of each page will be archived here for consultation and citation.
Please help us to improve this catalogue
If you have information, a correction or any other suggestions to improve this catalogue, please contact us.
About this Work
David Brown, in his catalogue of the drawings in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, has suggested that this sheet of studies of women washing clothes in a river was made from life during Girtin’s stay in Paris during the winter and early spring of 1801–2 (Brown, 1982, p.342). The drawing is mounted together with two other small sheets of figure studies that were almost certainly made in France (TG1899 and TG1900), and the subject itself was a familiar one with travellers to the French capital, who often commented on the ‘picturesque’ sight of numerous washerwomen at work on the banks of the Seine. No such figures populate any of Girtin’s Paris prints, however. Although it is certainly possible that the sheet was made on the trip to France with the intention of including the figures in one of the artist’s works, the nearest equivalent to this group that I can find is in a late view of Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders (TG1723). And, even then, it is by no means clear that the women were sketched from life, as they also bear a more than passing resemblance to figures found in the prints after Marco Ricci (1676–1730) that Girtin made a number of copies from at around about this date (see TG1723 figure 2). It may be that the drawing is on the same paper as the other two French studies, and knowing this for certain would help with assessing its status, but, even if it was made in Paris, there is still a good chance that the images were taken from another source, rather than having been sketched from life on the Seine. It is also possible that the sheet has been cut down to make a more coherent group, as what appears to be an unrelated male figure at the top has been cropped.
1801 - 1802
A Sheet of Figure Studies
TG1899
1801 - 1802
A Sheet of Figure Studies Relating to ‘Picturesque Views in Paris’
TG1900
1800 - 1801
Jedburgh from the River, with the Abbey Beyond
TG1723