- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- A Thatched Barn with Farm Animals
- Date
- 1794 - 1795
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 19 × 26 cm, 7 ½ × 10 ¼ in
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Picturesque Vernacular; Rural Labour
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG0913
- Description Source(s)
- Paul Mellon Centre Photographic Archive
Provenance
Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833); his posthumous sale, Christie's, 1 July 1833, lot 115 as 'Farm buildings and trees, unfinished'; bought by 'Colnaghi', £3 10s; William Wells of Redleaf (1768–1847); his posthumous sale, Christie’s, 22 January 1857, lot 312 as 'Study of old barns'; bought by 'Palser', £15 15s; J. Palser & Sons; Henry Bright; Charles Theobald Maud; W. J. Broderife; R. A. Bushell; his sale, Sotheby’s, 16 March 1978, lot 117, £950
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James Moore and British Antiquities
An Ancient House, Possibly in Sussex
Newport Museum and Art Gallery
An Interior View of the Ruined East End of Tynemouth Priory Church
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Jedburgh Abbey, from the East
Private Collection
Craigmillar Castle, near Edinburgh
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Exeter Cathedral, and St Mary Major
The Mellon Bank Collection, Pittsburgh
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The East End of Tynemouth Priory Church
Private Collection
Kidwelly Castle
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Ludlow Castle: The Gatehouse
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Dumbarton Rock and the Castle, from the North West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Jedburgh Abbey, from the East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Interior of the Albion Mills, Southwark, after the Fire
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Kinloss Abbey: The Abbot's House
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Duff House, from the South
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An Unidentified Round Tower
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
Glasgow Cathedral, from the North East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Part of the Ruins of Alton Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Private Collection
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
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Touchstones Rochdale
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Great Keep, Kenilworth Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Castle Rock, Edinburgh
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
London: The Demolition of the Old Porch of the Guildhall
London Metropolitan Archives
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Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Kirkstall Abbey, from the South East
Private Collection
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Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
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Private Collection
The Great Gate, St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury
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Private Collection
Lindisfarne Priory Church, Looking West from the Choir
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Kirkstall Abbey, from the North West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
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Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Private Collection
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Private Collection
Ewell Church, with a Funeral Procession Approaching
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Private Collection
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Private Collection
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Landscape with a Shepherd and Flock
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
Melrose Abbey, from the South West
Private Collection
A Cottage, Said to Be near Battle in Sussex
Private Collection
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Private Collection
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Private Collection
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Private Collection, Scotland
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Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Pevensey Castle: The North Tower with the Gatehouse in the Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Spire of Salisbury Cathedral, from Chorister's Green
Private Collection
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Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
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Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Private Collection
Tolleshunt D’Arcy Church
Private Collection
St Peter's Church, Bexhill, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ruined Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle, Seen from the North
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ruined Gatehouse, Pevensey Castle, from the East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ruined Gatehouse, Pevensey Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Gatehouse, Battle Abbey
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
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Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Gatehouse, Battle Abbey
Private Collection
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Private Collection
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Private Collection
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Refectory, St Martin’s Priory, Dover
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Saltwood Castle: The Gatehouse from a Farmyard
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Spynie Palace: A Coastal View
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
St Clement's Church, with Hastings in the Distance
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The East End of the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Private Collection
The East End of the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Tower, St Clement's Church, Hastings; Studies of a Horse in Harness and Numerous Architectural Details
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Undercliff, near Hastings
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Unidentified Village with a Half-Timbered House
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Hastings Museum and Art Gallery
Hastings Castle and Priory Bridge
Hastings Museum and Art Gallery
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
St Peter's Church, Bexhill: The West Tower
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Bolton Museum and Art Gallery
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
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Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
One of the Alard Monuments in the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Thatched Barn with Farm Animals
Private Collection
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The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
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About this Work
This view of a dilapidated thatched barn came from the collection of Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833) and may have been the item sold as ‘Farm buildings and trees, unfinished’ at his posthumous sale (Exhibitions: Christie’s, 1 July 1833, lot 115). As with other rural scenes from around 1795–96, such as A Farmyard with Pigs Drinking at a Pond (TG0923), this lightly coloured pencil sketch appears to have been copied from a drawing by Thomas Hearne (1744–1817). The washes of grey, brown and blue were likely added to create the impression that the work had been studied on the spot, and it is certainly not unfinished in the general sense of the word. Monro had an extensive collection of Hearne’s works, including seven ‘Landscapes in pencil, highly finished’ (Christie’s, 27 June 1833, lot 43) and a variety of sketches of ‘farm buildings’. It is therefore likely that Girtin made this drawing at his patron’s house. Hearne had a particular interest in vernacular buildings, and he sketched them avidly on his travels, introducing them into his watercolours as ‘symbolic of a simple, honest and laborious rural life’, as David Morris has noted (Morris, 1989, p.128) (see figure 1). There is no evidence that Girtin saw rural imagery in such a moral light, but Hearne’s influence, although initially limited to copying works for Monro, had a more long-lasting impact. Like Hearne, Girtin began to produce studies of vernacular buildings during his travels, and picturesque barns, similar to the example shown here, became a staple part of his working practice, resulting in watercolours such as A Barn by a Road (TG1793).
1795 - 1796
A Farmyard with Pigs Drinking at a Pond
TG0923
(?) 1802
A Barn by a Road
TG1793