- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) and (?) Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) after (?) John Henderson (1764-1843)
- Title
-
- Boats Anchored in Dover Harbour
- Date
- 1795 - 1796
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 22.5 × 29.7 cm, 8 ⅞ × 11 ⅝ in
- Inscription
'RDW' on the back; 'Alexander' on the back
- Object Type
- Collaborations; Monro School Copy; Work after an Amateur Artist
- Subject Terms
- Coasts and Shipping; Dover and Kent
-
- Collection
- Versions
-
Boats Anchored in Dover Harbour
(TG0822)
- Catalogue Number
- TG0821
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 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); Archdeacon Charles Parr Burney (1785–1864); then by descent to Rosetta d’Arblay Wood (née Burney) (1814–1910); then by descent to Edith Mary Burke Powell (Lady Powell, née Wood) (1848–1934); bequeathed to the Museum, 1934
Bibliography
V&A, 1935, p.24; Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.60, p.205 as by Thomas Girtin; Lambourne and Hamilton, 1980, p.151 as 'Monro Scool copy, probably by Girtin'
Place depicted
Other entries in Monro School Copies:
British Views, Including Works after the Outlines of John Henderson
An Upland Landscape with a Rainbow, Said to Be Lowther Fells
Kendal Town Hall
Windsor Castle and Park with Deer
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Tonbridge Bridge and Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The High Rocks, near Tunbridge Wells
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
The Town of Rye, Seen from the Marshes
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Dover Castle, Seen from the Beach
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Upland Scene with a Wooded Valley
Leeds University Art Gallery
Unidentified Medieval Ruins, with Agricultural Buildings
Tate, London
A View near Keswick, Probably Bassenthwaite Lake
Private Collection
Skiddaw and Bassenthwaite Lake, from the Vale of Newlands
Private Collection
Looking South into Borrowdale, from the Shore of Derwentwater
Private Collection
Mountainous Landscape, Possibly in the Lake District
Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool
Boon Crag Cottage, with Coniston Water Beyond
Private Collection
A View in Cumbria, Probably Looking from Irton Fell towards Ravenglass
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
A View in Cumbria, Looking towards Irton and the Irish Sea, with the Isle of Man in the Distance
Tate, London
The River Leven, Cumbria, Viewed from Penny Bridge
Tate, London
St John's Vale, Cumbria
Private Collection
The Lodore Falls
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Langdale Pikes
Private Collection
An Unidentified Bridge over a Stream, Possibly in North Wales
Private Collection
Derwentwater, with Skiddaw in the Distance
Eton College, Windsor
Beddgelert Bridge, North Wales
Private Collection
Nant Mill, Betws Garmon, North Wales
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
A Mountainous River Landscape with a Bridge
Private Collection
Cynwyd Mill, near Corwen, North Wales
Brandler Galleries, Brentwood
Conwy: The Town Walls from the South East
Tate, London
Raglan Castle: The Great Hall
Private Collection
A Mountainous Landscape with an Unidentified Bridge, Possibly in North Wales
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Iron Bridge at Coalbrookdale
Private Collection
An Estuary, Possibly Dartmouth
Private Collection
Grasmere: Looking North West to Helm Crag
Private Collection
The Head of Lake Windermere
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
The Head of Derwentwater, with the Lodore Falls
Private Collection
Dover Harbour, with Shipping Being Overhauled
Tate, London
A Two-Master in Dover Harbour, with the Castle Beyond
Tate, London
Dover Harbour: A Ship Being Overhauled
Tate, London
A Boat on the Shore, near Shakespeare Cliff, Dover
Tate, London
Dover Harbour: Fishing Vessels, Their Sails Drying
Tate, London
Shipping in Dover Harbour, with the Castle Beyond
Tate, London
Ullswater: Looking South to the Head of the Lake
Private Collection
A General View of Dover Harbour, from the East
Tate, London
Dover Harbour: Small Boats by the Quay
Tate, London
Boats in Dover Harbour
British Museum, London
An Unidentified Waterfall
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Ship under Repair in Dover Harbour
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
Figures on a Fishing Vessel in Dover Harbour
Private Collection
A Fishing Vessel with Hastings Beyond
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Dover Castle from the Sea
Private Collection
A Beached Vessel in the Inner Harbour at Dover
Private Collection
Dover Harbour, with the Castle on the Hill
British Museum, London
Dover Harbour
Private Collection
Beached Vessels in Dover Harbour, the Castle in the Distance
Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton
Vessels Anchored in Dover Harbour, with the Castle Beyond
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Warehouses with Shipping in Dover Harbour
Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton
Vessels in the Harbour at Dover, with the Castle Beyond
Private Collection
Dover Harbour, with the Cliffs Beyond
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart
Vessels Moored in Dover Harbour
Private Collection
The Inner Harbour, Dover, with the Castle Beyond
Brighton Museum and Art Gallery
A Ship Drawn Up on a Beach Being Careened
Private Collection
Beached Fishing Vessels, Dover Harbour
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
Beached Fishing Vessels in the Harbour at Dover
Private Collection
Boats Anchored in Dover Harbour
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Boats Anchored in Dover Harbour
Private Collection
Dover Harbour, with Fishing Boats at Low Tide
The High Museum of Art, Atlanta
Dover: The Harbour with Vessels
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
A Smack in Dover Harbour, Drying Sails, with the Old Church in the Distance
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
Dover Harbour: A Boat under Repair
Private Collection
Fishing Boats at Low Tide, near Dover
Courtauld Gallery, London
Dover: Two Boatmen Standing by the Prow of a Brig
Private Collection
Dover Harbour
Private Collection
A Fisherman's Cottage, Said to Be at Dover
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Hull of a Ship under Repair, with a Barge and Smaller Boats
Tate, London
A Boat-Builder’s Yard, Possibly on the River Medway
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
A Boat-Builder’s Yard, Possibly on the Medway
Private Collection
A Boat-Builder’s Yard, Possibly on the River Medway
Private Collection
A Boat-Builder's Shed, Possibly on the River Medway
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
A Boat-Builder’s Shed, Possibly on the River Medway, with a Fishing Boat with Drying Sails
Tate, London
The Coast, near Dover
The Higgins, Bedford
Folkestone Harbour
Julian Huxley-Parlour Fine Art, London
Beachy Head, Looking towards Newhaven
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Beachy Head, Looking towards Newhaven
Ulster Museum, Belfast
Shakespeare Cliff, Dover
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
Beached Vessels in Dover Harbour, the Castle in the Distance
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Buildings on a Wooden Quayside
Private Collection
A Coast View with Chalk Cliffs, Probably from near Beachy Head
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Small Boat under Repair by a Jetty
Private Collection
Dover: Snargate Street, Looking West
Private Collection
Dartford High Street
Private Collection
Tonbridge Bridge and Castle
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Rye, from the River Tillingham
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Dover: Fishing Boats at Low Tide
Private Collection
Two Boatmen Caulking the Bows of a Beached Brig, Probably at Dover
Private Collection
Hastings: A Beached Fishing Boat
Private Collection
A Coastal Scene at Dover
Worthing Museum and Art Gallery
Mickleham Church
Tate, London
An Overshot Mill
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Dolbadarn Castle on Llyn Padarn
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
Conwy Castle, from the East
Huddersfield Art Gallery
Harlech Castle, from the South
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
The Gatehouse, Harlech Castle, Seen from the Moat
Private Collection, Gloucestershire
The High Street at Egham
Private Collection
A Packhorse Bridge
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Boats in Dover Harbour
Leeds Art Gallery
A Dismasted Boat in Dover Harbour
Harvard Art Museums / Fogg Museum
Two Trees Overlooking a Meandering River
Private Collection
A Dilapidated Cottage
Private Collection
Dover: Boats Anchored in the Harbour
Private Collection
A Coastal View near Dover, probably at St Margaret's, Cliffe
Private Collection
Dover: Beached Boats, with the Castle Beyond
Private Collection
Dover Harbour: The Stern of a Large Ship, and Smaller Vessels
Tate, London
The Town of Rye, Seen from the Marshes
British Museum, London
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About this Work
This view of boats anchored in the harbour at Dover is one of two versions of a composition (the other being TG0822) that was probably copied from an outline drawing by the amateur artist John Henderson (1764–1843) at the home of Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833). Girtin is not known to have visited Dover and all of his views of the town were copied after other artists, including his master, Edward Dayes (1763–1804), and Henderson, who visited the port in the autumn of 1794, is known to have lent his ‘outlines’ to Monro so that they might be copied by the young artists he patronised (Farington, Diary, 30 December 1794). The ‘outlines of Shipping & Boats’ Henderson made in Dover, described by the diarist Joseph Farington (1747–1821) as ‘Very ingenious & careful’, provided the basis for as many as a hundred views of the port and its environs, including a close-up view of the same stretch of buildings in the harbour in Dover Harbour: The Stern of a Large Ship, and Smaller Vessels (TG1473), which was copied by Girtin and his collaborator at Monro’s home, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) (Farington, Diary, 1 December 1795).
Although the Dover subjects produced at Monro’s home were attributed to Turner alone at the patron’s posthumous sale in 1833, many of those that have since been identified are, as with the other version of this composition, now given jointly to Girtin and Turner. There is no evidence that this work was sold at the Monro sale, however, and nor too is there any indication that Turner was involved in its production. The pencil work is clearly by Girtin, but he also seems to have been responsible for the colour washes, which are both too summary and too unmodulated for Turner; moreover, the work employs a very different palette from the blues and greys of the typical Monro School Dover subjects to which he contributed. The more generalised effect that results is enhanced by the use of one of the rough-textured laid papers that Girtin employed from about 1796 onwards for his studio watercolours, and this no doubt encouraged Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak to include this ‘beautiful pencil and wash view’ in their catalogue as one of a handful of Monro School subjects that are ‘wholly the work of Girtin’ (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, pp.60, 204–5). It appears, therefore, that in addition to producing an outline for Turner to copy, Girtin was sufficiently taken by Henderson’s composition to make a version for himself (presumably as a source for a future studio composition), to which he added a few washes of colour. Overlaying images of the two drawings shows that though they are very close, Girtin has included a little more of the composition left and right, and there are sufficient small differences to indicate that this image was not simply traced from the same source.
1795 - 1796
Boats Anchored in Dover Harbour
TG0822
1795 - 1796
Dover Harbour: The Stern of a Large Ship, and Smaller Vessels
TG1473