This view of a boat anchored in the harbour at Dover displays many of the signs that mark the unique collaboration between Girtin and his contemporary Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) at the home of Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833) .Here the two artists were employed across three winters, probably between 1794 and 1797, to copy ‘the outlines or unfinished drawings of’ principally John Robert Cozens (1752–97), but other artists too, including the patron’s neighbour, the amateur artist John Henderson (1764–1843) who lent his ‘outlines for this purpose’ (Farington, Diary, 30 December 1794) Henderson visited Dover in the autumn of 1794 and the ‘outlines of Shipping & Boats’ he made there, described by the diarist Joseph Farington (1747–1821) as ‘Very ingenious & careful’, provided the basis for a substantial number of copies commissioned by Monro (Farington, Diary, 1 December 1797). As with the copies the artists made after the sketches of Cozens, ‘Girtin drew in outlines and Turner washed in the effects’, with Turner receiving ‘3s 6d each night’ though ‘Girtin did not say what He had’ (Farington, Diary, 12 November 1798).¹

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). However, whilst Turner travelled to the port in 1793 and executed a series of studio watercolours after his own sketches, the majority of the Dover subjects sold from Monro’s collection, numbering as many as a hundred, were still produced after secondary sources (Exhibitions: Christie’s, 26 June 1833; Christie’s, 1 July 1833). The source for this work has not been traced, but comparisons with the sketches used by the Monro School artists in the production of other port views – such as Dover Harbour: Small Boats by the Quay (TG0803), which displays a similar fascination with vessels in a picturesque harbour setting – suggest that it too was an outline drawing by Henderson.

All of the views of Dover sold at Monro’s posthumous sale in 1833 were attributed to Turner alone and this is still often the case in spite of Andrew Wilton’s pioneering article on the Monro School which argues the case for a joint attribution with Girtin (Wilton, 1984a, pp.8–23). In this instance, however, the drawing has been attributed to Dayes and consequently it has not featured in the literature on the Monro School despite being a characteristic example of Girtin’s collaborative work with Turner, albeit with a comparatively sparing addition of just a few tones of grey wash which have left Girtin’s characteristic pencil work showing more prominently than was commonly the case with works such as Dover Harbour: The Stern of a Large Ship, and Smaller Vessels (TG1473) with its fuller colour. Monro wished for ‘finished drawings’ when he commissioned copies after the outlines of Cozens (Farington, Diary, 12 November 1798), but in this case the work has more in common with an on-the-spot sketch which prioritises the outline drawing, with monochrome washes added simply to indicate the general distribution of light and shade. Such a sparing addition of simplified blocks of colour is more characteristic of Girtin’s work and I cannot help wondering if in this instance Turner was not involved in its production.

A second slightly smaller version of the composition minus the boats in the foreground is in the collection of the Fogg Art Museum (see figure 1). Working from an online image it is not possible to speak with any great authority, but the pencil work does appear to be by the same hand seen in the Leeds watercolour, namely Girtin himself. The authorship of the rather more summary monochrome washes is less clearcut, though I suspect that a second artist was involved in the process, probably meaning that Turner was again responsible for colouring Girtin’s outline drawing, albeit working in a more desultory manner than was generally the case.

1795 - 1796

Dover Harbour: Small Boats by the Quay

TG0803

1795 - 1796

Dover Harbour: The Stern of a Large Ship, and Smaller Vessels

TG1473