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Works Thomas Girtin

Etal Castle

(?) 1796

 

Description
Creator(s)
Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
Title
  • Etal Castle
Date
(?) 1796
Medium and Support
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
22.9 × 18.7 cm, 9 × 7 ⅜ in
Inscription

Signed and inscribed

Object Type
Outline Drawing
Subject Terms
Castle Ruins; Durham and Northumberland

Collection
Catalogue Number
TG1114
Description Source(s)
Auction Catalogue

Provenance

Sotheby's, 25 July 1945, lot 3 as 'A Volume of Drawings'; bought by P & D Colnaghi & Co., £42; ... Christie’s, 9 February 1982, lot 12, one of three, £237

About this Work

This signed pencil drawing appeared at auction in 1982, but the catalogue provides few details and, given that the work was not photographed, it has not been possible to confirm either the date of the sketch or its relationship to the two watercolours of the Northumberland castle that Girtin produced (TG1115 and TG1712). The first of these, a view from the river Till that stylistically can be dated to around 1797, was reproduced as an aquatint published in May 1800 (see print after TG1115), suggesting that it was made from a sketch executed on Girtin’s first independent tour, to the north east, which would have taken in Etal on the way to the Scottish Borders. The second view is dated 1801 and if it does indeed show Etal Castle, about which there is some doubt, then the sketch that the watercolour is based on could have been produced on Girtin’s second trip to the Borders, which took place in the late summer of 1800. The likelihood is that this drawing was made on the earlier trip, but it would be good to see the work again and confirm its position within the development of Girtin’s sketching practice.

1796 - 1797

Etal Castle

TG1115

1801

An Upland Landscape, Said to Show Etal Castle

TG1712

1796 - 1797

Etal Castle

TG1115

by Greg Smith

Place depicted

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