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Works James Moore and (?) Thomas Girtin

Ewell Church

1793

Primary Image: TG0169a: James Moore (1762–99) and (?) Thomas Girtin (1775–1802), Ewell Church, 6 July 1793, graphite on wove paper, 17.6 × 22.6 cm, 6 ⅞ × 8 ⅞ in. Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford (WA1916.38.1).

Photo courtesy of Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford (All Rights Reserved)

Description
Creator(s)
James Moore (1762-1799) and (?) Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
Title
  • Ewell Church
Date
1793
Medium and Support
Graphite on wove paper
Dimensions
17.6 × 22.6 cm, 6 ⅞ × 8 ⅞ in
Inscription

'Ewell Church July 8th 93' lower centre, by James Moore

Object Type
Collaborations; Outline Drawing
Subject Terms
Gothic Architecture: Parish Church; Surrey View

Collection
Versions
Ewell Church, with a Funeral Procession Approaching (TG0169)
Catalogue Number
TG0169a
Description Source(s)
Viewed in 2016

Provenance

James Moore (1762–99); his widow, Mary Moore (née Howett) (d.1835); bequeathed to Anne Miller (1802–90); bequeathed to Edward Mansel Miller (1829–1912); bequeathed to Helen Louisa Miller (1842–1915); bought by Thomas Girtin (1874–1960); presented to the Museum, 1916

Bibliography

Brown, 1982, p.470, no.1402 as 'Ewell Church July 8th 93' by James Moore

About this Work

This pencil drawing by Girtin’s first significant patron, the antiquarian and amateur artist James Moore (1762–99), was made on the second of three tours he undertook to the southern counties of Surrey and Sussex. It is contained in an album assembled from fifty-three drawings that were acquired by the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, from Moore’s descendants after 1912. They were catalogued by David Brown as being by Moore himself, but Brown added a note to one of the drawings, a view of St Clement’s Church, Hastings (TG0304), suggesting that Girtin may also have ‘taken a hand’ in the drawing (Brown, 1982, p.471). I think it is possible to go a step further and propose that, given up to half of the drawings in the album are significantly stronger than Moore’s generally unconvincing sketches (such as source image TG0114), the professional artist had a ‘hand’ in many more of his patron’s outlines. In this case, such is the contrast in quality, particularly in the architectural details, that it is clear that the drawing has been corrected and enhanced by a professional working over Moore’s sketch with a sharper and more richly toned piece of graphite. This sketch of old Ewell Church, dated ‘July 8th 93’, is typical of the way in which Moore’s tentative outlines have been firmed up, his faulty perspective corrected and an exuberant level of decorative detail added. Other examples more obviously include the refined pencil work of Girtin himself, but the fact that the young professional made a finished watercolour from this drawing (TG0169) strongly suggests that he was responsible for enhancing Moore’s sketch as well. Girtin may have done this soon after Moore returned from his trip in 1793 as part of the process of producing the finished watercolour for his patron, and he almost certainly did not visit the site himself.

(?) 1795

St Clement’s Church, with Hastings in the Distance

TG0304

1792 - 1793

The Albion Mills, Southwark, after the Fire

TG0114

(?) 1793

Ewell Church, with a Funeral Procession Approaching

TG0169

by Greg Smith

Place depicted

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