- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Malmesbury: The Market Cross
- Date
- 1795 - 1796
- Medium and Support
- Graphite on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 19 × 23.4 cm, 7 ½ × 9 ¼ in
- Object Type
- Outline Drawing
- Subject Terms
- Gothic Architecture: Domestic Buildings; The Village; Wiltshire View
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1292
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001
Provenance
Sotheby's, 11 May 1865, lot 325 as ‘Malmesbury Cross, Wiltshire, with many figures’; bought by ‘Ford’, £1 1s; ... Joanna Booth, Kings Road, Chelsea; bought from her by the Museum, 1982
Bibliography
Warrell, 2020, p.19
Place depicted
Other entries in First Steps as a Professional Artist:
James Moore and British Antiquities
An Ancient House, Possibly in Sussex
Newport Museum and Art Gallery
An Interior View of the Ruined East End of Tynemouth Priory Church
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Jedburgh Abbey, from the East
Private Collection
Craigmillar Castle, near Edinburgh
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Exeter Cathedral, and St Mary Major
The Mellon Bank Collection, Pittsburgh
Stonehenge during a Thunderstorm
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The East End of Tynemouth Priory Church
Private Collection
Kidwelly Castle
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Ludlow Castle: The Gatehouse
Private Collection
Dumbarton Rock and the Castle, from the North West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Jedburgh Abbey, from the East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Interior of the Albion Mills, Southwark, after the Fire
Private Collection
Kinloss Abbey: The Abbot's House
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Conwy Castle, Looking West
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Duff House, from the South
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Unidentified Round Tower
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
Glasgow Cathedral, from the North East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Part of the Ruins of Alton Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Private Collection
The Albion Mills, Southwark, after the Fire
Newport Museum and Art Gallery
Bamburgh Castle, from the East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ruins of the East End of St Andrews Cathedral
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Touchstones Rochdale
Colchester Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Great Keep, Kenilworth Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Castle Rock, Edinburgh
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
London: The Demolition of the Old Porch of the Guildhall
London Metropolitan Archives
The Gatehouse, Denbigh Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Kirkstall Abbey, from the South East
Private Collection
Buildwas Abbey
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
The West Front of Brechin Cathedral, with the Round Tower
Private Collection
The Great Gate, St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Conwy Castle: The Bakehouse Tower
Private Collection
Lindisfarne Priory Church, Looking West from the Choir
Tate, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from the North West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Tithe Barn at Abbotsbury, with St Catherine's Chapel on the Hill
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Kirkstall Abbey, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Dunstaffnage Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Spynie Palace, near Elgin
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Dunnottar Castle in a Thunderstorm
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Part of the Ruins of Croxden Abbey, from the East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Great Keep, Kenilworth Castle, with Leicester's Gatehouse in the Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Battle Church, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
The Gatehouse, Denbigh Castle
Private Collection
The Ruins of Lewes Castle, from the West
Private Collection
Ewell Church, with a Funeral Procession Approaching
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Rustic Figures in a Landscape, with Pigs
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
St Peter's Church, Bexhill, from the East
Private Collection
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Cow Grazing near a Pond, with a Church Tower Beyond
Private Collection
Duff House, from the River
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Landscape with a Shepherd and Flock
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
Melrose Abbey, from the South West
Private Collection
A Cottage, Said to Be near Battle in Sussex
Private Collection
Ely Cathedral, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Private Collection
The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Private Collection
Lindisfarne Priory Church, Looking West from the Choir
Private Collection, Scotland
Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Pevensey Castle: The North Tower with the Gatehouse in the Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Spire of Salisbury Cathedral, from Chorister's Green
Private Collection
The Landgate, Rye
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Landgate, Rye
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Strand Gate, Winchelsea
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The West Tower, All Saints' Church, Hastings
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Rochester Castle, from the South
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Byland Abbey
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
All Saints' Church, Hastings, from the North East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Ancient House, Possibly in Sussex
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Kenilworth Castle: The View from the South
Private Collection
Kenilworth Castle: Seen from the South East
Private Collection
Tolleshunt D’Arcy Church
Private Collection
St Peter's Church, Bexhill, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ruined Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle, Seen from the North
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Saltwood Castle: The Gatehouse
Private Collection
The Ruined Gatehouse, Pevensey Castle, from the East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ruined Gatehouse, Pevensey Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Gatehouse, Battle Abbey
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
Carlisle Cathedral, from the South West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Gatehouse, Battle Abbey
Private Collection
St Mary the Virgin, Eastbourne
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Unidentified Landscape with a Figure Seated on a Gate under a Tree
Private Collection
The West Front of Crowland Abbey
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Crowland Abbey
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Pevensey Castle: View of the North and East Towers
Private Collection
The Ruins of the Great Hall, Kenilworth Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
All Saints' Church, Hastings, from the North West
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Refectory, St Martin’s Priory, Dover
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Saltwood Castle: The Gatehouse from a Farmyard
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Spynie Palace: A Coastal View
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
St Clement's Church, with Hastings in the Distance
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The East End of the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Private Collection
The East End of the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Tower, St Clement's Church, Hastings; Studies of a Horse in Harness and Numerous Architectural Details
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Undercliff, near Hastings
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ypres Tower, Rye
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Unidentified Village with a Half-Timbered House
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Hastings: The View across the Beach to Castle Hill
Hastings Museum and Art Gallery
Hastings Castle and Priory Bridge
Hastings Museum and Art Gallery
Tolleshunt D’Arcy Church
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Battle Abbey Gatehouse, from the South West
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
St Clement’s Church, Sandwich, from the North
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
St Peter's Church, Bexhill: The West Tower
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Glasgow Cathedral, from the South West
Bolton Museum and Art Gallery
The East End of Icklesham Church
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Refectory, St Martin’s Priory, Dover
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
The Gatehouse of Beckingham Hall, Tolleshunt Major
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Glamis Castle (Macbeth's Castle)
Private Collection, Norfolk
One of the Alard Monuments in the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
One of the Alard Monuments in the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate
Harvard Art Museums / Fogg Museum, Loan from George and Patti White
A Thatched Barn with Farm Animals
Private Collection
A Timber-Frame House with a Hill Beyond
Tate, London
A Farmyard with Pigs Drinking at a Pond
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
A Barn with a Figure, Cattle and Poultry
Courtauld Gallery, London
Malmesbury: The Market Cross
Athelstan Museum, Malmesbury
An Unidentified Country Church and Churchyard
Private Collection, Norfolk
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About this Work
This sketch of the late fifteenth-century market cross in Malmesbury at first sight appears to have been executed on the artist’s West Country tour in 1797. The manner in which the artist has carefully recorded the architectural details of the medieval cross and the projecting fronts of the houses on the south side of Gloucester Street recalls The Guildhall, Exeter (TG1255), drawn on Girtin’s trip to Dorset and Devon, and Malmesbury might easily have been taken in on his return to London. However, the discovery during the creation of this online catalogue of an identical view apparently by Girtin’s master, Edward Dayes (1763–1804), makes this highly unlikely (see figure 1). The two drawings have the same dimensions and, if one overlays the outline over an image of the watercolour, the congruence of forms is such as to suggest that Girtin traced Dayes’ work. Looking again at Girtin’s drawing and comparing it with his other view of the market cross at Malmesbury and its setting (TG1291), one is struck by the way that the artist includes every detail, down to the figures. In contrast to what I take to be a later, on-the-spot sketch, this drawing appears overdetermined, which perhaps should have suggested from the outset that it was copied from another artist rather than drawn from life.
Soon after the abovementioned discovery, another surprising find emerged. Looking through the sale catalogue of the antiquarian author John Britton, I came across a lot described as ‘Malmesbury Abbey Cross’, which was said to be a joint work by Girtin and his colleague Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) (Exhibitions: Fletcher, 15 April 1846, lot 1803). At the time of the 1846 sale, all of the watercolours that the two artists had worked on together at the home of Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833) were attributed to Turner alone, and so Britton must have had good evidence to think that the work was the product of the artists collaborating. More to the point, could it be that the watercolour now attributed to Dayes is actually the untraced Girtin–Turner collaboration? It has not been possible to pin the attribution down conclusively, working solely from an online image, but it is clearly a strong possibility. If it is indeed the case that the watercolour was jointly produced at Monro’s home, this would help to solve at least some of the problems associated with the pencil drawing. In particular, rather than being a copy of the watercolour, it would therefore appear that the drawing was produced at the same time as part of its production process, as was the case with another street scene painted for Monro, Dartford High Street (TG0843). The watercolour clearly dates from prior to Girtin’s West Country trip in 1797, however, and so it still means that the artist copied his image from another source. Rather than Dayes, this might therefore again be a case of Girtin using a drawing by his earliest patron, the amateur artist and antiquarian James Moore (1762–99). Moore visited Wiltshire on the way to the West Country in 1791 and at least half a dozen of his sketches from the trip formed the basis of watercolours by Girtin.
Image Overlay
(?) 1797
The Guildhall, Exeter
TG1255
(?) 1797
Malmesbury Market Cross
TG1291
1795 - 1796
Dartford High Street
TG0843