This view of Dover Castle with a dilapidated boathouse on the beach below, one of three versions of the composition (the others being TG0263 and TG0263 figure 1), displays some 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 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 1795). 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 port and the adjacent coastline were copied after secondary sources, including his master, Edward Dayes (1763–1804). However, whilst Turner travelled to the town 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 the work of other artists (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 Dover scenes – such as Shipping in Dover Harbour, with the Castle Beyond (TG0799), which displays a similar fascination with the life of the fishing community, with a view of the castle beyond – suggest that it was an outline drawing by Henderson. The amateur’s numerous Dover views are essentially variations on a set of themes, with the same vessels, buildings, views and naval operations returning in different combinations, and it is a measure of their skill that both Turner and Girtin were able to create from this unpromising source a unified body of work that includes sufficient variety to maintain interest. In this case, the castle is typically given less prominence than a humble row of buildings, which in their picturesque state of decay mirror the motley collection of small boats scattered in a confused manner across the beach. Such disorder represents the other side of Dover’s maritime economy, small scale and makeshift, in contrast to the scenes of highly organised labour seen in other views of the castle, such as Vessels Anchored in Dover Harbour (TG0813).

All of the views of Dover sold at Monro’s posthumous sale in 1833 were attributed to Turner alone, but, despite the fact that the joint authorship of the Monro School subjects has become increasingly the norm following the publication of Andrew Wilton’s pioneering article in 1984 (Wilton, 1984a, pp.8–23), this work was listed as solely by Turner when it last appeared at auction in 1994. The watercolour is only known to me from a black and white photograph, but even though what can be seen of the pencil work could conceivably be by Girtin, the application of the monochrome washes is very weak and surely cannot be the work of Turner. The drawing differs in both proportion and in significant details to both the second version of the composition, almost certainly the work of just Girtin (TG0263), and another drawing which has a more plausible claim to being a joint work of Turner and Girtin (see TG0263 figure 1), and I am therefore inclined to believe that this watercolour is neither an example of their collaboration nor an anonymous copy of one of the other versions. All of which leaves us with two options, either that this is a realisation of the lost Henderson source material by an unknown artist, or might it even be by Henderson himself and therefore represent a different type of source material to the outline drawings that the young Girtin and Turner commonly worked from?

Image Overlay

1795 - 1796

Dover Castle, Seen from the Beach

TG0263

1795 - 1796

Shipping in Dover Harbour, with the Castle Beyond

TG0799

1795 - 1796

Vessels Anchored in Dover Harbour, with the Castle Beyond

TG0813

1795 - 1796

Dover Castle, Seen from the Beach

TG0263