This detailed outline drawing by Girtin of Snargate Street, at the foot of the cliffs in the port of Dover, was in all probability copied from an on-the-spot sketch made by the amateur artist John Henderson (1764–1843), and the artist is not known to have visited the south coast town himself. Henderson journeyed to the port in the autumn of 1794 and on his return lent the resulting ‘outlines’ to Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833) so that they might be copied by Girtin and his contemporary Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) (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 owned by Monro (Farington, Diary, 1 December 1795). As the artists themselves recalled, ‘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). In addition to providing Turner with outlines to colour, Girtin made a number of pencil copies for his own use, including the highly detailed general view Dover Harbour (TG0802) and other smaller shipping scenes, a few of which, like Dover Castle, Seen from the Beach (TG0263), he added colour to. This drawing, I suggest, is another such copy, one that was improved and developed from its source with a finished studio composition presumably in mind.

This conclusion is completely at variance with the opinion of an earlier writer on the work, who believed that the ‘spontaneity and vibrancy of the present drawing’ is so much greater than the standard copies of Henderson’s drawings that it must have been ‘done on the spot’, the result of a special trip to Dover (Exhibitions: Lowell Libson, 2004, p.40). Comparing this drawing with another copy from a Henderson outline of a street scene, Dartford High Street (TG0843), as well as the view Dover Harbour suggests otherwise, highlighting, in the process, Girtin’s skill as a diligent and accurate copyist, as well as the dangers of applying contemporary ideas of creativity to late eighteenth-century artistic practice. The latter copy is perhaps the most surprising and instructive, illustrating as it does the sheer quantity of factual detail that the amateur was capable of capturing in his outlines, but also Girtin’s willingness to invest his time in producing a close replica. The view of Dartford, in contrast, though it includes a similar level of detail, also introduces a number of figures that are not present in the original Henderson drawing (see source image TG0843), and this is presumably what Girtin did in this view of Snargate too. The fact that the lively and inventive groups of figures in the Dartford view are then repeated in the watercolour that Girtin produced (TG0844) is what leads me to suspect that the view of Snargate is not simply a straightforward copy but also includes an element of invention with a studio watercolour in mind.

It is worth recalling that Girtin was probably engaged at this time, 1795–96, in the first versions of his major London view St Paul’s Cathedral, from St Martin’s-le-Grand (TG1396), which repeats the composition of the curving building-lined street shown here, with a comparable set of figures in the road and on the pavements. Copying Henderson’s drawings for Turner to add colour may have primarily been a tedious task made palatable by generous financial remuneration, but it also played a role in Girtin’s contribution to the development of new iconography for the depiction of modern urban life.

1795 - 1796

Dover Harbour

TG0802

1795 - 1796

Dover Castle, Seen from the Beach

TG0263

1795 - 1796

Dartford High Street

TG0843

1795 - 1796

Dartford High Street

TG0843

1795 - 1796

Dartford High Street

TG0844

1795 - 1796

St Paul’s Cathedral, from St Martin’s-le-Grand

TG1396