- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- An Unidentified Valley, Probably in North Wales
- Date
- 1798 - 1799
- Medium and Support
- Watercolour on paper
- Dimensions
- 27.9 × 38.1 cm, 11 × 15 in
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- North Wales; River Scenery
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1441
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 325 as 'Valley in North Wales (probably)'; '1799'
- Description Source(s)
- Girtin and Loshak, 1954
Provenance
Samuel Whitbread (1764–1815); then by descent
Bibliography
Deuchar, 1984, p.79
Other entries in The 1798 Welsh Tour:
Sketches and Subsequent Watercolours
Rhuddlan Castle, from the River Clwyd
Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University
Rhuddlan Castle, from the River Clwyd
Southill Park, Bedfordshire
Rhuddlan Castle, from the River Clwyd
Tate, London
The Eagle Tower, Caernarfon Castle
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
The Eagle Tower, Caernarfon Castle
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The Eagle Tower, Caernarfon Castle
Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery
The Eagle Tower, Caernarfon Castle
Private Collection, North Wales
Caernarfon: A Street Scene with Plas Mawr
Tate, London
Caernarfon Castle, from the River Seiont
British Museum, London
Caernarfon Castle, from the River Seiont
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum, Birkenhead
The Cain Falls (Pistyll Cain), near Dolgellau
British Museum, London
The Cain Falls (Pistyll Cain), near Dolgellau
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
A Mountain View, near Beddgelert
British Museum, London
A Bridge over the Glaslyn, near Beddgelert
British Museum, London
Pont Seiont, Looking Towards Mynydd Mawr (Big Mountain)
British Museum, London
Pont Seiont, Looking Towards Mynydd Mawr (Big Mountain)
Private Collection
Pont y Pair, Betws-y-Coed
Harvard Art Museums / Fogg Museum, Loan from George and Patti White
Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake), Looking towards Cadair Idris
Private Collection
A View of Hills and a River, Probably in North Wales
British Museum, London
Denbigh Castle and the Vale of Clwyd
British Museum, London
An Unidentified Landscape, Possibly the Vale of Clwyd
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River; Studies of Seated Figures
Private Collection
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River
Private Collection
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River
Private Collection
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River
National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Valle Crucis Abbey: From the Cloister Looking Towards the Dormitory
Private Collection
Valle Crucis Abbey: The Chapter House, from the South West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A River Scene, Probably the Dee near Corwen
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
The Cloisters of Chester Cathedral
Private Collection
The Red Castle, from Hawk Lake, with a Distant View of Shrewsbury
Private Collection
Wroxeter: The Roman Wall
Harvard Art Museums / Fogg Museum, Loan from George and Patti White
The Old Severn Bridge at Bridgnorth
British Museum, London
Hereford Cathedral, from across the River Wye
Private Collection
The Great Hall, Kenilworth Castle
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
The Great Hall, Kenilworth Castle
Private Collection
The Great Hall, Kenilworth Castle
Private Collection
An Unidentified Valley, Probably in North Wales
Southill Park, Bedfordshire
Cadair Idris, from the Estuary near Barmouth
Private Collection
Footnotes
- 1 The details are contained in a letter to Sawrey Gilpin (1733–1807). The letter is transcribed in the Documents section of the Archive (1801 – Item 4).
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About this Work
It has not been possible to identify this valley scene, though, as Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak argue, it is probably in North Wales, which would mean that the watercolour stemmed from Girtin’s 1798 trip. The scene bears some resemblance to the Vale of Clwyd, as depicted in a number of Girtin’s finished watercolours from around 1799 (such as TG1337), but further research is needed to pin down the location with any degree of certainty.
As with the similarly sized view of Rhuddlan Castle (TG1302), this work comes from the collection of Samuel Whitbread (1764–1815) and has remained at the family home of Southill Park since he owned it. The watercolour was first recorded in an inventory made in 1816 after Whitbread’s death, as one of two ‘Landscapes … in gilt frames Glazed’, and, possibly uniquely for Girtin’s works, it seems to have remained in the same frame ever since (Bedfordshire Archives (130 Southill)). The fact that the work has stayed in the same collection for more than two hundred years does not mean that it was commissioned from Girtin, however. Instead, it seems that both of the Welsh views owned by Whitbread came via Girtin’s representative, the artist and engraver Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835), who worked for Whitbread and was the recipient of his support when he was suffering from financial problems. Indeed it was to Whitbread, through an intermediary, that Reynolds outlined in October 1801 the extent of the stock of works by Girtin that he owned, which he hoped to sell to pay his debts (Reynolds, Letter, 1801).1 The Welsh views owned by Whitbread, at about 28 × 38 cm (11 × 15 in), conform to the ‘smaller size’ that Reynolds valued at ‘£4. 4. each’, and, though not documented, it is likely that they were acquired in return for underwriting Reynolds’ debts, rather than stemming from any direct contact with Girtin. Whitbread, in this case, was therefore a collector rather than a patron of Girtin.
(?) 1798
Denbigh Castle and the Vale of Clwyd
TG1337
1799
Rhuddlan Castle, from the River Clwyd
TG1302