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Works James Moore and Thomas Girtin

One of the Alard Monuments in the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea

(?) 1790

Primary Image: TG0352a: James Moore (1762–99) and Thomas Girtin (1775–1802), One of the Alard Monuments in the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea, 1790 and (?) 1795, graphite on two pieces of wove paper, 21.1 × 17 cm, 8 ¼ × 6 ¾ in. Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford (WA1916.20.36).

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

Description
Creator(s)
James Moore (1762-1799) and Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
Title
  • One of the Alard Monuments in the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Date
(?) 1790
Medium and Support
Graphite on two pieces of wove paper
Dimensions
21.1 × 17 cm, 8 ¼ × 6 ¾ in
Inscription

'Tiles' lower right, by James Moore

Object Type
Outline Drawing; Work after an Amateur Artist
Subject Terms
Gothic Architecture: Parish Church; Sussex View

Collection
Versions
One of the Alard Monuments in the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea (TG0352)
Catalogue Number
TG0352a
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 and presented anonymously to the Museum, 1916

Bibliography

Brown, 1982, p.473, no.1424 as 'The Tomb of Gervase Alard in Winchelsea Church, Sussex' by James Moore

About this Work

Details of One of the Alard Monuments in the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea

This pencil drawing showing one of the fine early fourteenth-century monuments to members of the Alard family in the church at Winchelsea, Sussex, was made by Girtin’s first significant patron, the antiquarian and amateur artist James Moore (1762–99). 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 a sketch of St Clement’s Church, Hastings (TG0308), 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 Interior of the Albion Mills after the Fire (see source image TG0114), the professional artist had a ‘hand’ in many more of his patron’s outlines. The contrast in the quality of the architectural details between the sketch of the Albion Mills and this drawing is so great that it is clear that the depiction of one of the Alard monuments has been corrected and enhanced by a superior artist using a sharper and more richly toned piece of graphite. The drawing 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. The manner in which the artist varies the pressure applied to the graphite to introduce subtle variations in tone, even within the same line, is characteristic of Girtin’s fine draughtsmanship, and it was surely he who elaborated Moore’s on-the-spot drawing back in London. The date that Girtin did this is not clear-cut, however. Moore toured Sussex in 1795, but another drawing showing some of the details of the monument (see figure 1) has on its back a sketch of St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury (see source image TG0140), from which Girtin produced a watercolour (TG0140) that appears to date from 1792–93 and thus is one of the earliest works he made for his patron. Therefore, Moore’s drawing may date from as early as 1790, with Girtin having corrected and enhanced his patron’s work when he produced his watercolour of the composition for Moore around 1795–96 (TG0352). That work has been inscribed by Moore with ‘Girtin 1796’, though the reliability of that date is open to question.

The monument has been identified as that of Gervase Alard (1270–1340), Admiral of the Cinque Ports Fleet (Brown, 1982, p.473). The more complex structure of Gervase’s tomb is probably the monument to the east in the south aisle, and the monument depicted by Moore belongs to an unidentified member of the same family that abuts onto the interior wall that partitions off the chancel from the ruined transept. All of the spectacular Alard tombs date from around 1310–20.

(?) 1795

The West Tower, St Clement’s Church, Hastings; Studies of a Horse in Harness and Numerous Architectural Details

TG0308

1792 - 1793

The Albion Mills, Southwark, after the Fire

TG0114

1792 - 1793

The Great Gate, St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury

TG0140

1792 - 1793

The Great Gate, St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury

TG0140

(?) 1796

One of the Alard Monuments in the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea

TG0352

by Greg Smith

Place depicted

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