- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Bothal Castle, from the River Wansbeck
- Date
- 1796 - 1797
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 14 × 20 cm, 5 ½ × 7 ⅞ in
- Inscription
'Girtin' lower left, by Thomas Girtin; 'Bothwell Castle / Girtin' on the back of the old mount
- Object Type
- Colour Sketch: Studio Work
- Subject Terms
- Castle Ruins; Durham and Northumberland; River Scenery
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1089
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2017
Provenance
Arthur K. Hay; then by descent to Joseph B. Hay; his estate sale, Bateman’s, Stamford, 7 October 2017, lot 613 as 'Bothwell Castle, (South Lanarkshire, Scotland', £2,100
Place depicted
Other entries in The 1796 Northern Tour to Yorkshire, the North East and the Scottish Borders:
Sketches and Subsequent Watercolours

Bamburgh Castle, from the South
Cragside House, Northumberland (National Trust)

Durham Cathedral, from the South West
British Museum, London

The Ouse Bridge, York, from the North Shore
British Museum, London

The Ouse Bridge, York, from Skeldergate Postern
York Art Gallery

York: The New Walk on the Banks of the Ouse
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

York Minster, from the South West
Private Collection

York Minster, from the South West
Private Collection

York Minster, from the Ouse, with St Mary’s Abbey
Harewood House, Yorkshire

The South Side of York Minster, Showing the Transept and the Western Towers
Private Collection, Yorkshire

York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
British Museum, London

Unidentified Gothic Ruins, Said to Be St Mary’s Abbey, York
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery

A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Private Collection

A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Harewood House, Yorkshire

A Distant View of Rievaulx Abbey
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Private Collection

Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Manchester Art Gallery

Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The Bridge at Warkworth, with the Church Beyond
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Richmond, Yorkshire: The Seventeenth-Century House Known as St Nicholas
British Museum, London

Richmond Castle and Bridge, from the River Swale
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino

Richmond Castle and Bridge, from the River Swale
Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool

Richmond Castle and Town, from the South East
Private Collection

Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
British Museum, London

Egglestone Abbey, from the River Tees
Gallery Oldham

Egglestone Abbey, on the River Tees
British Museum, London

Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester

Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir
Private Collection, Norfolk

Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir; Dryburgh Abbey with the Eildon Hills Beyond
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery

Durham Cathedral, from the South West
Private Collection

St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Private Collection

Tynemouth Priory, from the Coast
Cleveland Museum of Art

Bothal Castle, from the River Wansbeck
Private Collection

A River Scene with a Tower, Said to Be the Tyne near Hexham
Leeds Art Gallery

Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Private Collection, Norfolk

The Bridge at Warkworth, with the Castle Beyond
Untraced Works

Dunstanburgh Castle, Viewed from a Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Dunstanburgh Castle: The Lilburn Tower
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Lindisfarne: An Interior View of the Ruins of the Priory Church
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester

Lindisfarne: An Interior View of the Ruins of the Priory Church
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge

An Interior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Lindisfarne: The Nave and Crossing of the Priory Church
British Museum, London

An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Private Collection

York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Dryburgh Abbey: The South Transept Looking North
Private Collection

Dryburgh Abbey: The South Transept from the Cloister
Private Collection

Melrose Abbey: The Ruined Presbytery and the East Window
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown

Melrose Abbey: The Ruined Presbytery and the East Window
Cooper Gallery, Barnsley

Melrose Abbey, from the North East
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York

Jedburgh Abbey, from the North East
Private Collection

Jedburgh Abbey, from Jed Water
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins
British Museum, London

The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins
Private Collection, Bedfordshire

The West Front of Jedburgh Abbey
British Museum, London

Jedburgh Abbey, from the South East
Blickling Hall, Norfolk (National Trust)

The Ruins of the Lady Chapel, near Bothal
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence

Bamburgh Castle, from the Village
Guy Peppiatt Fine Art Ltd

St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool

Richmond, Yorkshire: The Seventeenth-Century House Known as St Nicholas
Private Collection

An Interior View of Fountains Abbey: The East Window from the Presbytery
Graves Gallery, Sheffield

St Mary’s, Old Malton, on the River Derwent
Untraced Works

York: Pavement, Looking towards All Saints
Private Collection
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About this Work
When this hitherto unknown watercolour appeared at auction in 2017 it was titled ‘Bothwell Castle’, which is a ruined building near Glasgow that is well known from watercolours by Paul Sandby (c.1730–1809), amongst others; however, it actually shows a view of the gatehouse tower of Bothal Castle in Northumberland. Located on an incline above the river Wansbeck, Bothal Castle is a few miles inland and north of the coastal settlements at Seaton Sluice and Tynemouth, which Girtin sketched on his tour to the northern counties and the Scottish Borders in 1796 (TG1086 and TG1088). It is highly likely, therefore, that this small watercolour was also based on an untraced sketch made by the artist in 1796. Girtin may have been encouraged to take in the castle by the example of his earliest patron, the amateur artist and antiquarian James Moore (1762–99), who sketched the site on his 1792 tour of the same area (Yale Center for British Art, New Haven (B1975.3.696)). And, in turn, Girtin’s untraced sketch might have inspired Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) to visit Bothal on his 1797 trip, as amongst a group of drawings of the location in the Turner Bequest is a view of the castle looking in the other direction (Tate Britain, Turner Bequest (XXXIV 37)).
The small scale and summary style of Girtin’s view of Bothal initially, at least, suggests that it might have been coloured on the spot and thus that it should join a group of drawings from 1796 that marked a profound change in Girtin’s working practice. However, comparing the work with the more diffuse approach to colouring seen in Warkworth Hermitage (TG1095), I have no doubt that it was actually fabricated in the studio on Girtin’s return from the north in order to meet the market for a small sketch-like commodity suited to the portfolios of his earliest patrons and collectors. The crucial comparison here is with a view of Pegwell Bay (TG0372), which is dated 1796 but which could not have been coloured on the spot as Girtin did not travel to the Kent coast in that year, or in all probability ever. The treatment of the sky and the reflections in the water in both works may suggest speedy production, but the uniform way that the watercolours are finished, combined with the manner in which the figures and the buildings have been carefully placed within the composition, suggests the deliberation associated with a studio work. The dated view of Pegwell Bay therefore helps us to identify a significant group of small watercolours, derived from sketches produced in the field in 1796, that because of their evidently hasty production purport to have been coloured on the spot. Works such as this, together with the view of Seaton Sluice (TG1088), therefore have a claim to being the first examples of a new kind of commodity, what I have termed the colour sketch–studio work.
1797 - 1798
Tynemouth Priory, from the Coast
TG1086
1796 - 1797
Seaton Sluice
TG1088
(?) 1796
Warkworth Hermitage
TG1095
1796
Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate
TG0372
1796 - 1797
Seaton Sluice
TG1088