- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- A Thatched Cottage amongst Trees
- Date
- 1801 - 1802
- Medium and Support
- Watercolour and pen and ink on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 8.8 × 11.5 cm, 3 ½ × 4 ½ in
- Object Type
- Colour Sketch: Studio Work
- Subject Terms
- Picturesque Vernacular
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1800
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001 and 2018
Provenance
Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833); his posthumous sale, Christie's, 26–28 June and 1–2 July 1833 (day and lot number not known); bought by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851); accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest, 1856
Other entries in Later Sketches:
Taken on the Spot and Worked in the Studio
Mountain Scenery, Said to Be near Beddgelert (page 15, reverse, of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
The Valley of the Glaslyn, near Beddgelert (page 15 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Trees in a Glade Overlooking a Lake
Private Collection
An Extensive Landscape with the Ruins of Mitford Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Plumpton Rocks, near Knaresborough
Private Collection
A Parkland Landscape with Cattle and Sheep
Private Collection
John Raphael Smith: 'Waiting for the Mail Coach' (mounted on page 1 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea (page 11 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
The Stables, Plompton Park (page 17 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Harewood House, from the South West (page 18 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Grimbald Bridge, near Knaresborough (page 20 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
The Abbey Mill, near Knaresborough (page 25 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
A Farmhouse in Malhamdale, Known as 'Kirkby Priory, near Malham' (page 26 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Sandsend (page 29 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Grimbald Crag, near Knaresborough (page 30 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
A Crag on the River Nidd (page 31 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Guisborough Priory: The Ruined East End (page 33 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe
British Museum, London
An Interior View of the Choir of Bolton Priory
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe (page 37 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church, from across the River Wharfe (page 38 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
The East End of Bolton Priory Church (pages 38–39 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
A Distant View of Middleham Castle, with the River Ure in the Foreground (page 41 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Middleham Village, with the Castle Beyond (page 42 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
A Village at the Bend of a River, Probably in Yorkshire (page 44 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Beached Vessels at Low Tide (page 46 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Five Craft off the Coast on a Calm Sea (page 47 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Shipping off the Coast on a Calm Sea (page 48 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
The Ruins of Old Mulgrave Castle (page 49 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Mulgrave Park and Castle, from near Epsyke Farm
British Museum, London
The River Nidd between Knaresborough and Wetherby
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Kirkstall Abbey, with a Canal Barge
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The River Nidd, between Knaresborough and Wetherby
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne
The Valley of the Tweed, with Melrose Abbey in the Distance
Private Collection
A Clump of Trees by the Waterside
Private Collection
A Torrent by a Clump of Trees
Harvard Art Museums / Fogg Museum, Loan from George and Patti White
A River Valley and a Distant Hill Seen through Trees
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
A Shady Road Leading to Cottages
British Museum, London
A Church in a Village, Possibly at Radwinter
British Museum, London
A Building with a Tall Chimney, next to a Stream
British Museum, London
Landscape with a Farmhouse and Cottage
Private Collection
A Schooner near the Shore
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Coast Scene with Two Beached Vessels
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Shipping Study: Five Craft on a Calm Sea
British Museum, London
Footnotes
- 1 Details are transcribed in the Documents section of the Archive (1804 – Item 1).
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About this Work
This monochrome study of a thatched cottage amongst trees appears to be related to a group of fifteen generally slight colour sketches, all measuring roughly 8.9 × 11.4 cm (3 ½ × 4 ½ in), that are in the collection of the British Museum. It measures the same size and employs the same monochrome palette as many of the sketches that have been ascribed to the last year of Girtin’s career, including Outhouses with a Cart (TG1796) and A Shady Road Leading to Cottages (TG1779). However, the drawing does not share the same provenance as the other sketches in the group, having come from the collection of Girtin’s early patron Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833), and the possibility that it was actually created five or so years earlier needs to be considered, not least because amongst the many hundreds of works that the artist made for Monro are a group of watercolours worked on a similar scale, such as The Gatehouse of Amberley Castle (TG0371). However, these were almost exclusively well-known topographical subjects, produced from sketches by other artists. Though some are more finished, like this work, they are mostly painted on a distinctive card – as with A Distant View of Tynemouth Priory (TG0850) – quite different from the paper used for the picturesque composition seen here. Thus, although it is difficult to see how the drawing came to find a place in Monro’s collection when there is no evidence that he acquired any of Girtin’s later works, on balance I think that it is related to the group of sketches from the British Museum after all, and that it may therefore have formed part of one of the ‘little Books’ that were split up for sale by the artist’s brother, John Girtin (1773–1821).1 He appropriated a large number of Girtin’s sketches after the latter’s death in order to settle his brother’s extensive unpaid debts, and these presumably dated from late in his career (Smith, 2017–18, pp.35–36). Could it therefore be that John Girtin sold this and other examples of his brother’s drawings to Monro, and therefore that not all of the patron’s holdings were produced for him as commissions?
(?) 1802
Outhouses with a Cart
TG1796
(?) 1802
A Shady Road Leading to Cottages
TG1779
1795 - 1796
The Gatehouse of Amberley Castle
TG0371
1796 - 1797
A Distant View of Tynemouth Priory, from the Sea
TG0850