- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Jedburgh Abbey, from the South East
- Date
- 1800 - 1801
- Medium and Support
- Graphite, watercolour and bodycolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 42.3 × 55.4 cm, 16 ⅝ × 21 ¾ in
- Inscription
‘Girtin’ lower right, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Samuel William Reynolds: Dealer; Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Monastic Ruins; The Scottish Borders
-
- Collection
- Versions
-
Jedburgh Abbey, from the South East
(TG1232)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1724
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2002, 2010 and 2020
Provenance
Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835) (1803 list of works disposed of: 'Jedborough Abbey' sold with four other work for £50); bought by Elizabeth Weddell (née Ramsden) (1749–1831), December 1801; bequeathed to John Charles Ramsden (1788–1836); then by descent to Phyllida Gordon-Duff-Pennington (née Pennington-Ramsden, 1929–2011); Sotheby’s, 11 July 1990, lot 91; bought by Thos. Agnew & Sons, £286,000; ... Sotheby’s, 28 November 2002a, lot 16, £468,650; Andrew Clayton-Payne; bought from him, 2010
Exhibition History
Agnew’s, 1991, no.59; London, 1993, no.146; London, 2002, no.170
Bibliography
Bauer, 1998, p.70
Place depicted
Other entries in Late Watercolours:
Samuel William Reynolds and Painting for the Art Market
An Imaginary City, with Antique Buildings
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Ancient Ruins, with an Obelisk
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Ancient Ruins, with a Gothic Church
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
A Classical Composition, with a Church and Column
Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool
The Arch of Janus, Rome
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Temple of Clitumnus
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Rome: The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Rome: The Temple of Saturn, with the Arch of Septimius Severus
Private Collection
A Town on an Estuary
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
A Lagoon Capriccio
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
An Unidentified Coastal Landscape with a Windmill
Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight
Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Lindisfarne Priory, Northumberland (English Heritage)
Kelso Abbey: The West Front
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Jedburgh Abbey, from the Riverbank
The Higgins, Bedford
On the River Medway, with a Boatyard, Beached Vessels and Hulks
Private Collection
Bisham Abbey, on the River Thames
Private Collection
A Classical Composition, with Figures Admiring the Sculptures
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
An Unidentified Ruin next to a Bridge over a Stream, Said to Be Furness Abbey
Touchstones Rochdale
The Gatehouse of Morpeth Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Buildings on the River Nidd, near Knaresborough
British Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Hill
British Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Bridge, Morning
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from the Canal, Evening
Private Collection
A Distant View of Kirkstall Abbey
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum, Birkenhead
An Unidentified Scene, Formerly Known as ‘Kirkstall Village’
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Wetherby Bridge and Mills, Looking across the Weir
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills
British Museum, London
Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills
Leeds Art Gallery
Kirk Deighton, near Wetherby
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
York: The New Walk on the Banks of the River Ouse
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
York: The Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
York: The Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern
Private Collection
York Minster from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
Private Collection
A Farmyard with Barns, Ladder and Figures; A Sky Study
Courtauld Gallery, London
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Leeds Art Gallery
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Private Collection
Ripon Minster, from the South East
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Ripon Minster, from the South West
Private Collection
The Abbey Mill, near Knaresborough
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Mountain Stream in Spate, Possibly the River Wharfe
Private Collection
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church from across the River Wharfe
Eton College, Windsor
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church, from across the River Wharfe
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church, from across the River Wharfe
Leeds Art Gallery
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Private Collection
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Private Collection
The Banks of the River Wharfe, with Bolton Abbey in the Distance
Private Collection
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Storiths Heights, near Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Richmond Castle, from the River Swale
Leeds Art Gallery
A Farmhouse in Malhamdale, Known as 'Kirkby Priory, near Malham'
British Museum, London
An Ancient Oak, Said to Be on the River Ure
Private Collection
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Private Collection, Norfolk
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Private Collection
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Guisborough Priory: The Ruined East End
Tate, London
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory; The Tithe Barn, Abbotsbury
Private Collection, Norfolk
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Private Collection
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Kelso Abbey, from the River Tweed
Private Collection
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Upland Landscape, Said to Show Etal Castle
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The River Tweed at Kelso, Looking Upstream
Courtauld Gallery, London
The Eildon Hills, from the River Tweed
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
A Distant View of Dryburgh Abbey, with the Eildon Hills Beyond
Private Collection
The Valley of the Tweed, with Melrose Abbey in the Distance
Private Collection
Jedburgh Abbey, from Jed Water
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Jedburgh Abbey, from the South East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Village of Jedburgh
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Southampton: The South Gate and Old Gaol
Private Collection
Bristol Harbour, with St Mary Redcliffe in the Distance
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
A Wharf with Shipping, Possibly at Bristol
Art Institute of Chicago
A Rainbow over the River Exe
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
A Rainbow over the River Exe
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
A Rainbow over the River Exe
Graves Gallery, Sheffield
Lydford Castle, from the River Lyd
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
St Vincent’s Rocks and the Avon Gorge
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
On the River Taw, North Devon, Looking from Braunton Marsh towards Instow and Appledore
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Conwy Castle, from the River Gyffin
Private Collection, Norfolk
Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea (The White House, Chelsea)
Tate, London
Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea
Private Collection, Norfolk
A Panoramic Landscape, with Figures Trawling a Pond
Private Collection
Landscape with a Distant Ridge, Possibly Hampstead Heath
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Inn Yard, Edgware Road, Paddington
British Museum, London
The Thames from a Window of the Old Toy Inn, Hampton Court
British Museum, London
The Old Cottage, Widmore, near Bromley
British Museum, London
Shipping on the River Medway
Museum of New Zealand, Wellington
A Farmyard with Cattle, Poultry and Labourers Unloading Hay, Possibly Pinkney's Farm, Wimbish
Art Institute of Chicago
Farmhouse and Outbuildings, Possibly in Essex
Aberdeen Art Gallery
An Unidentified Village Street with a Church Tower in the Distance
British Museum, London
A Panoramic Landscape, Possibly Showing Primrose Hill, London
Private Collection
Unidentified Landscape with a Distant Rain Shower
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
Warkworth Church, with the Bridge Beyond
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
An Italianate Landscape with Two Monks
Private Collection
Footnotes
- 1 Not a part of another church, but the steeple added to Newgate in 1791 (Dennison, 2013, p.296).
- 2 The letter detailing the sales of Girtin’s works by Reynolds is transcribed in full in the Documents section of the Archive (1803 – Item 3).
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About this Work
This exceptional watercolour, showing a view of the ruins of Jedburgh Abbey from the south east and the bridge over Jed Water, is the later of two versions of a composition that Girtin sketched on his visit to the Scottish Borders in 1796 (the other being TG1232). Jedburgh is situated on one of the main routes from England, and this, combined with the picturesque location of the abbey ruins overlooking the river, with the hills behind, helped to make it a popular subject with both artists and patrons. Indeed, Girtin developed at least six different compositions for the nine mature watercolours that depict Jedburgh, showing the abbey viewed from a position above (TG1229), from closer to (TG1231) and looking from the river, as here (TG1233). These were in addition to the two versions of the same view from the east that were made before his 1796 tour from a sketch by his early patron James Moore (1762–99) (TG0086 and TG0104). Possibly as many as five on-the-spot sketches from the 1796 tour also survive, including a detailed architectural study of the abbey from the south east, which carefully records the way that the parish church was fitted into the five western bays of the ruins (TG1227). Although the view in this watercolour was taken from slightly closer to, Girtin may still have referred to his study, though he would have required another sketch of the landscape setting, and the foreground in particular, to complete the scene. Also missing from the on-the-spot sketch is the curious feature of the distant spire that found its way into both versions of this composition so that it appears, confusingly, to be part of the abbey.1 This is the sort of detail that more traditional topographical artists such as Charles Catton (1728–98), who depicted a number of views of Jedburgh at this date, omitted or else made sure that their viewpoint did not allow such a misleading alignment of forms (see TG1233 figure 1).
The watercolour is one of two views of Jedburgh (the other being TG1725) that were bought by the early collector of Girtin’s work Elizabeth Weddell (1749–1831) (Smith, 2002a, pp.166–67; Morris, 2002a, p.257). They were part of a group of five late compositions that she purchased in December 1801 for £50 from Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835), who acted on behalf of the artist in his final years in a role somewhere between agent and dealer (Reynolds, Letter, 1803).2 The other Jedburgh view, showing just the village, is painted on a different scale, and the works clearly do not form a pair, which is a useful reminder that as a collector, rather than a patron (who commissioned works from the artist and thus had some element of input into their creation), Weddell’s interest was not primarily in the subject. The abbey remains the focus of this work, but it is its relationship with the surrounding landscape and the picturesque foreground that is the key, and it was presumably as an example of the artist’s work that the view was acquired. This watercolour is also slightly bigger than the village view, which conforms to the larger of the two standard sizes that Girtin supplied to Reynolds, 30.2 × 52.1 cm (11 ⅞ × 20 ½ in), and there is other evidence that this is a more upmarket commodity than was generally the case. As with the similarly scaled Jedburgh Abbey, from the Riverbank (TG1233), Girtin was thus careful to chose a range of stable pigments, and this means that both works retain much of their colour and original freshness, and they also include a carefully worked foreground in which the figures play a significant role. Indeed the foreground, which Girtin generally painted with some dispatch with the intention of guiding the eye swiftly into the middle ground, is here articulated in such a way as to encourage an engagement with its complex geometry, and the composition as a whole is so thoroughly integrated and unified as to suggest an extra degree of labour in its production.
1797 - 1798
Jedburgh Abbey, from the South East
TG1232
1797 - 1798
The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins
TG1229
1796 - 1797
The West Front of Jedburgh Abbey
TG1231
(?) 1800
Jedburgh Abbey, from the Riverbank
TG1233
1792 - 1793
Jedburgh Abbey, from the East
TG0086
1792 - 1793
Jedburgh Abbey, from the East
TG0104
(?) 1796
Jedburgh Abbey
TG1227
1800
The Village of Jedburgh
TG1725
(?) 1800
Jedburgh Abbey, from the Riverbank
TG1233