- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) after (?) James Moore (1762-1799)
- Title
-
- Saltwood Castle: The Gatehouse
- Date
- (?) 1795
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 18 × 13.5 cm, 6 ⅞ × 5 ¼ in
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour; Work after an Amateur Artist
- Subject Terms
- Castle Ruins; Dover and Kent
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG0262
- Description Source(s)
- Auction catalogue
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), 1912, £8; sold through the Leicester Galleries, London, 1912, £15 15s; ... Christie’s, 20 November 1979, lot 120 as by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), £350; Bonhams, 4 November 2003, lot 27 as by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851)
Exhibition History
London, 1912, no.33
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
Footnotes
- 1 The Leger Galleries Ltd, English Watercolours, London, 1968, no.40. The drawing was later with Thos. Agnew & Sons when it was wrongly attributed to Thomas Hearne (1744–1817).
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About this Work
This view of the fourteenth-century gatehouse of Saltwood Castle in Kent was attributed to Girtin’s great contemporary Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) when it last appeared in public at an auction (Bonhams, 4 November 2003, lot 27). Nonetheless, there are strong grounds for believing that it is in fact by Girtin and that the watercolour was painted after a lost sketch by the artist’s early patron, the antiquarian and amateur artist James Moore (1762–99). In the first instance, although the evidence is not watertight, it is likely that the watercolour is the hitherto untraced Saltwood subject in ‘blue grey’ that was exhibited at the Leicester Galleries in 1912 as by Girtin (London, 1912, no.33). The sale included a substantial group of drawings and watercolours consigned by the artist’s ancestor and biographer Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) who had bought more than fifty works from the descendants of James Moore earlier in the year and was no doubt seeking to recoup some of his investment. Girtin’s descendant priced the watercolour at £15 15s for a drawing he had paid £8 for a few months previously. It is not known who the purchaser was or why and when a change of attribution occurred during the interval between the sale and its reappearance on the art market in 1979, though the inclusion of a watercolour of the composition by Edward Dayes (1763–1804) at a selling exhibition in 1968 may have had something to do with it (see figure 1).1 Dayes, it seems, worked from the same lost sketch by Moore that was the origin for this watercolour and so, as with another Saltwood subject (see TG0301 figure 1), the source would have been a pencil outline made on the amateur’s tour to Kent and Sussex in the summer of 1795 (TG0301).
If this new attribution of the view of the gatehouse at Saltwood is accepted it would join a stylistically coherent group of Sussex and Kent subjects of antiquarian interest by Girtin that were worked after Moore’s sketches and which all employ a limited blue/grey palette. In addition to the Saltwood scene there are two views of Rye, showing the Ypres Tower (TG0342) and the Landgate (TG0223) as well as a slightly larger view of the gatehouse of Battle Abbey (TG0277a). Stylistically, the key to a Girtin attribution in all of these instances is the characteristic pencil work seen under the monochrome washes. A highly flexible, discontinuous outline in which the touch varies subtly in intensity, combined with an inventive, decorative mark making that emphasises surface texture with no recourse to shading, characterises the group. The addition of simple washes of colour is hardly distinctive to Girtin and might equally be attributed to Turner at this date, but the fact that the subject of all four drawings, together with their provenances, can with varying degrees of certainty be linked to Moore, rules out the latter’s involvement. Although the attributional issues have not been fully resolved, it seems that Girtin was responsible for producing a significant group of views of the gatehouse at Saltwood for Moore using his patron’s sketches, including two carefully worked watercolours (TG0301 figure 1 and TG0259), this monochrome study and three pencil drawings, the latter two of which were probably worked on by both men (TG0224, TG0224a and TG0301). It is not clear why the subject so appealed to Moore, though perhaps it was its associations with the martyrdom of Thomas à Becket made more compelling by its current picturesque decay and bathetic status as a farmhouse.
(?) 1795
Saltwood Castle: The Gatehouse from a Farmyard
TG0301
(?) 1795
Saltwood Castle: The Gatehouse from a Farmyard
TG0301
1795 - 1796
The Ypres Tower, Rye
TG0342
(?) 1795
The Landgate, Rye
TG0223
1795 - 1796
The Gatehouse, Battle Abbey
TG0277a
(?) 1795
Saltwood Castle: The Gatehouse from a Farmyard
TG0301
1795 - 1796
The Ruined Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle, Seen from the North
TG0259
(?) 1795
The Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle
TG0224
(?) 1795
The Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle
TG0224a
(?) 1795
Saltwood Castle: The Gatehouse from a Farmyard
TG0301