- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Bamburgh Castle, from the Village
- Date
- 1797
- Medium and Support
- Graphite, watercolour and bodycolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 42 × 54.5 cm, 16 ½ × 21 ½ in
- Inscription
‘T. Girtin 1797’ lower left, by Thomas Girtin; 'Bamborough Castle / Northumberland' on the back of the original mount (now atteched to the back of the frame)
- Object Type
- Drawing for a Print; Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Castle Ruins; Durham and Northumberland; Picturesque Vernacular
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1459
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 192 as 'Bamborough Castle'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in March 2022
Provenance
George Selby (1724–1804); then by descent to Sir Geoffrey Selby Church (1887–1979); his posthumous sale, Sotheby’s, 13 March 1980, lot 137, £25,000; bought by 'B. Pollen'; Guy Peppiatt Fine Art Ltd., 2022
Exhibition History
Agnew’s, 1931, no.132; Agnew’s, 1953a, no.15; Newcastle, 1982, no.80; Edinburgh, 1982, no.27; Guy Peppiatt, London, 2024, no.7
Bibliography
Davies, 1924, p.26; Mayne, 1949, p.44, p.107; Girtin and Loshak, 1954, pp.63–64; Hill, 1999, p.8; Mallalieu, 2002, vol.1, p.270
Place depicted
Other entries in The 1796 Northern Tour to Yorkshire, the North East and the Scottish Borders:
Sketches and Subsequent Watercolours
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg0183-pi.jpg)
Bamburgh Castle, from the South
Cragside House, Northumberland (National Trust)
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg0919-pi.jpg)
Durham Cathedral, from the South West
British Museum, London
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1044-pi.jpg)
The Ouse Bridge, York, from the North Shore
British Museum, London
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1045-pi.jpg)
The Ouse Bridge, York, from Skeldergate Postern
York Art Gallery
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1046-pi.jpg)
York: The New Walk on the Banks of the Ouse
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1047-pi.jpg)
York Minster, from the South West
Private Collection
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1048-pi-1.jpg)
York Minster, from the South West
Private Collection
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1049-pi.jpg)
York Minster, from the Ouse, with St Mary’s Abbey
Harewood House, Yorkshire
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1050-pi.jpg)
The South Side of York Minster, Showing the Transept and the Western Towers
Private Collection, Yorkshire
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1051-pi.jpg)
York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
British Museum, London
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1052-pi.jpg)
Unidentified Gothic Ruins, Said to Be St Mary’s Abbey, York
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1053-pi.jpg)
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Private Collection
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1054-pi-1.jpg)
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Harewood House, Yorkshire
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1055-pi.jpg)
A Distant View of Rievaulx Abbey
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1058-pi.jpg)
Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Private Collection
![]( /media/w450/comparative/tg1058-ci2.jpg)
Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Manchester Art Gallery
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1060-pi.jpg)
Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
![]( /media/thomasgirtin_placeholder/w450.png)
The Bridge at Warkworth, with the Church Beyond
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1062-pi-1.jpg)
Richmond, Yorkshire: The Seventeenth-Century House Known as St Nicholas
British Museum, London
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1063-pi-1.jpg)
Richmond Castle and Bridge, from the River Swale
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1064-pi.jpg)
Richmond Castle and Bridge, from the River Swale
Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1067-pi-2.jpg)
Richmond Castle and Town, from the South East
Private Collection
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1068-pi.jpg)
Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
British Museum, London
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1070-pi.jpg)
Egglestone Abbey, from the River Tees
Gallery Oldham
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1071-pi.jpg)
Egglestone Abbey, on the River Tees
British Museum, London
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1073-pi.jpg)
Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1074-pi.jpg)
Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1075-pi.jpg)
Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1076-pi.jpg)
Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir
Private Collection, Norfolk
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1077-pi.jpg)
Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1078-pi.jpg)
Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir; Dryburgh Abbey with the Eildon Hills Beyond
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1079-pi.jpg)
Durham Cathedral, from the South West
Private Collection
![]( /media/w450/prints-after/tg1083-pa1.jpg)
St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Private Collection
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1086-pi.jpg)
Tynemouth Priory, from the Coast
Cleveland Museum of Art
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1089-pi.jpg)
Bothal Castle, from the River Wansbeck
Private Collection
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1090-pi.jpg)
A River Scene with a Tower, Said to Be the Tyne near Hexham
Leeds Art Gallery
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1093-pi.jpg)
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1094-pi.jpg)
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Private Collection, Norfolk
![]( /media/w450/prints-after/tg1099-pa1.jpg)
The Bridge at Warkworth, with the Castle Beyond
Untraced Works
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1100-pi.jpg)
Dunstanburgh Castle, Viewed from a Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1101-pi.jpg)
Dunstanburgh Castle: The Lilburn Tower
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1105-pi.jpg)
Lindisfarne: An Interior View of the Ruins of the Priory Church
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1106-pi.jpg)
Lindisfarne: An Interior View of the Ruins of the Priory Church
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1107-pi.jpg)
An Interior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1108-pi.jpg)
Lindisfarne: The Nave and Crossing of the Priory Church
British Museum, London
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1109-pi-1.jpg)
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1110-pi.jpg)
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Private Collection
![]( /media/thomasgirtin_placeholder/w450.png)
York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1120-pi.jpg)
Dryburgh Abbey: The South Transept Looking North
Private Collection
![]( /media/w450/primary/pi-tg1121.jpg)
Dryburgh Abbey: The South Transept from the Cloister
Private Collection
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1122-pi.jpg)
Melrose Abbey: The Ruined Presbytery and the East Window
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1123-pi.jpg)
Melrose Abbey: The Ruined Presbytery and the East Window
Cooper Gallery, Barnsley
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1124-pi.jpg)
Melrose Abbey, from the North East
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York
![]( /media/thomasgirtin_placeholder/w450.png)
Jedburgh Abbey, from the North East
Private Collection
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1226-pi.jpg)
Jedburgh Abbey, from Jed Water
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1228-pi.jpg)
The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins
British Museum, London
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1229-pi.jpg)
The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins
Private Collection, Bedfordshire
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1231-pi.jpg)
The West Front of Jedburgh Abbey
British Museum, London
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1232-pi.jpg)
Jedburgh Abbey, from the South East
Blickling Hall, Norfolk (National Trust)
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1346-pi.jpg)
The Ruins of the Lady Chapel, near Bothal
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1459-pi.jpg)
Bamburgh Castle, from the Village
Guy Peppiatt Fine Art Ltd
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1460-pi.jpg)
St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1461-pi.jpg)
Richmond, Yorkshire: The Seventeenth-Century House Known as St Nicholas
Private Collection
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1508b-pi.jpg)
An Interior View of Fountains Abbey: The East Window from the Presbytery
Graves Gallery, Sheffield
![]( /media/w450/prints-after/tg1654-pa1.jpg)
St Mary’s, Old Malton, on the River Derwent
Untraced Works
![]( /media/w450/primary/tg1655-pi.jpg)
York: Pavement, Looking towards All Saints
Private Collection
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About this Work
This imposing watercolour of Bamburgh Castle was commissioned by George Selby (1724–1804), who lived in nearby Twizel in Northumberland and who, according to a Selby family tradition, accommodated Girtin during his northern tour in 1796 (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.160). The large watercolour is prominently signed and dated, one of only two works from 1797 to be inscribed. Uniquely for any of Girtin’s commissioned watercolours it has retained its original mount, and the carved wood-and-plaster frame also appears to date from Selby’s time. Twizel is only a few kilometres away from the coast, and Bamburgh Castle would have been an obvious subject for Selby to have ordered from Girtin. Though there is no specific evidence that Girtin stayed with the patron, it is not inconceivable that he travelled north with a commission to produce such a sizeable watercolour and that it was orders such as this that supported him financially on his journey. Certainly, there is no doubt that the artist sketched his subject during the 1796 tour, and the watercolour is consequently a key document for establishing Girtin’s route and for dating the works that resulted.
There is something of an irony in this, since Girtin had already painted an image of Bamburgh Castle from much the same angle, looking from the east (TG0116), working from a drawing produced in 1792 by the amateur artist James Moore (1762–99). Girtin’s earlier view, dating from around 1793, followed Moore’s drawing closely, though intriguingly it excludes the cottage that in Selby’s commission features so prominently. With a perfectly usable view of the castle already to hand, Girtin must have concentrated his attention when he visited the site for himself on the village of Bamburgh, with its run-down cottages sheltering under the massive walls. Was this a case of the patron stipulating a shift in emphasis away from the castle ruins, or a matter of Selby supporting a change in Girtin’s approach to subjects such as Bamburgh, which had hitherto been directed at patrons with primarily antiquarian interests? The uncharacteristically prominent and complex figure group outside the cottage, more redolent of a genre scene, raises other intriguing questions relating to the patron’s local affiliations. Is there any significance, one is prompted to ask, in the poor state of the cottage or the actions of two figures who appear to be engaged in an act of charity, not least because an engraving of the composition does not include any overt signs of poverty (see the print after, above)? Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak argued that the artist was ‘not uninfected by the taste for sentimental and picturesque motives’ that abounds in the cottage-door scenes of Thomas Gainsborough (1727–88) and George Morland (1763–1804), but, if the work was commissioned then there is a chance, worthy of further investigation, that something rather more significant is going on here (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.64). A watercolour dated 1808 by John Christian Schetky (1778–1874) taken from the same viewpoint and featuring the same dilapidated cottages, left and right, rules out an alternative reading of the work, namely that Girtin invented the picturesque foreground (Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery (1937P374)).
The latter point raises further questions about the engraving that was published in The Copper-Plate Magazine in the same year (1797), one of four northern subjects by Girtin that were reproduced by John Walker (active 1776–1802). Girtin and Loshak assumed that it was the Selby view of Bamburgh that Walker worked from (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.160). However, whilst it is possible that the patron lent his watercolour to the publisher and engraver, the differences in the figures between the print and drawing might more satisfactorily be explained by the existence of another, smaller version of the composition that Girtin produced specifically for engraving. In fact, another version is recorded in the sale of Thomas Woolner (1825–92) (Exhibitions: Christie’s, 21 May 1895, lot 72), and this too was said in the catalogue to have been the work that was engraved. This also seems to have been the watercolour that was later in the collection of Henry Charles Green (Christie's, 22 February 1952, lot 54), where it was seen by Tom Girtin (1913–94), though he concluded that it was not by Girtin even though measuring at '3 ¾ × 6 ¼ in' (9.5 × 15.9 cm) it would have been a more appropriate size to be engraved (Girtin Archive, 32). The work has not been seen since the 1950s and no image of it appears to exist, so it has not been possible to confirm this assessment, but, either way, I now suspect that the Selby commission was not the basis for the engraving.
1792 - 1793
Bamburgh Castle, from the East
TG0116