- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- (?) Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle upon Tyne
- Date
- 1797 - 1798
- Medium and Support
- Watercolour on paper
- Dimensions
- 52.7 × 39.4 cm, 20 ¾ × 15 ½ in
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
-
- Collection
- Versions
-
St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
(TG1460)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1083
- Description Source(s)
- Girtin and Loshak, 1954
Provenance
Charles James Pooley (1836–1900); his sale, Christie’s, 6 March 1880, lot 93, unsold; Capes & Dunn, Manchester, 28 February 1882, lot 41; bought by 'Rowbotham', £17; Christie's, 30 June 1916, lot 79; bought by 'Spencer', £27 6s; Christie’s, 6 May 1918, lot 24; bought by 'Hart', £11 11s; Christie's, 13 July 1934, lot 73; bought by 'Blane', £7 17s 6d
Bibliography
Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.209
Place depicted
Other entries in The 1796 Northern Tour to Yorkshire, the North East and the Scottish Borders:
Sketches and Subsequent Watercolours
Bamburgh Castle, from the South
Cragside House, Northumberland (National Trust)
Durham Cathedral, from the South West
British Museum, London
The Ouse Bridge, York, from the North Shore
British Museum, London
The Ouse Bridge, York, from Skeldergate Postern
York Art Gallery
York: The New Walk on the Banks of the Ouse
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
York Minster, from the South West
Private Collection
York Minster, from the South West
Private Collection
York Minster, from the Ouse, with St Mary’s Abbey
Harewood House, Yorkshire
The South Side of York Minster, Showing the Transept and the Western Towers
Private Collection, Yorkshire
York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
British Museum, London
Unidentified Gothic Ruins, Said to Be St Mary’s Abbey, York
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Private Collection
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Harewood House, Yorkshire
A Distant View of Rievaulx Abbey
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Private Collection
Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Manchester Art Gallery
Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Bridge at Warkworth, with the Church Beyond
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Richmond, Yorkshire: The Seventeenth-Century House Known as St Nicholas
British Museum, London
Richmond Castle and Bridge, from the River Swale
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
Richmond Castle and Bridge, from the River Swale
Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool
Richmond Castle and Town, from the South East
Private Collection
Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
British Museum, London
Egglestone Abbey, from the River Tees
Gallery Oldham
Egglestone Abbey, on the River Tees
British Museum, London
Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir
Private Collection, Norfolk
Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir; Dryburgh Abbey with the Eildon Hills Beyond
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Durham Cathedral, from the South West
Private Collection
St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle upon Tyne
Private Collection
Tynemouth Priory, from the Coast
Cleveland Museum of Art
Bothal Castle, from the River Wansbeck
Private Collection
A River Scene with a Tower, Said to Be the Tyne near Hexham
Leeds Art Gallery
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Private Collection, Norfolk
The Bridge at Warkworth, with the Castle Beyond
Untraced Works
Dunstanburgh Castle, Viewed from a Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Dunstanburgh Castle: The Lilburn Tower
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne
Lindisfarne: An Interior View of the Ruins of the Priory Church
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Lindisfarne: An Interior View of the Ruins of the Priory Church
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
An Interior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Lindisfarne: The Nave and Crossing of the Priory Church
British Museum, London
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Private Collection
York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Dryburgh Abbey: The South Transept Looking North
Private Collection
Dryburgh Abbey: The South Transept from the Cloister
Private Collection
Melrose Abbey: The Ruined Presbytery and the East Window
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
Melrose Abbey: The Ruined Presbytery and the East Window
Cooper Gallery, Barnsley
Melrose Abbey, from the North East
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York
Jedburgh Abbey, from the North East
Private Collection
Jedburgh Abbey, from Jed Water
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins
British Museum, London
The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins
Private Collection, Bedfordshire
The West Front of Jedburgh Abbey
British Museum, London
Jedburgh Abbey, from the South East
Blickling Hall, Norfolk (National Trust)
The Ruins of the Lady Chapel, near Bothal
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Bamburgh Castle, from the Village
Guy Peppiatt Fine Art Ltd
St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle upon Tyne
Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool
Richmond, Yorkshire: The Seventeenth-Century House Known as St Nicholas
Private Collection
An Interior View of Fountains Abbey: The East Window from the Presbytery
Graves Gallery, Sheffield
St Mary’s, Old Malton, on the River Derwent
Untraced Works
York: Pavement, Looking towards All Saints
Private Collection
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About this Work
This work has not been seen in public since it was sold at auction in 1934, but, although it does not appear to have been photographed, it is at least possible to say that it is a version of the composition depicted in TG1460. Tom Girtin (1913–94) had a particularly low opinion of that smaller watercolour, now part of the collection of Liverpool University, describing it as ‘dreadfully feeble’, and, in consequence he speculated that it was the untraced version that was the work exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1798 as ‘St. Nicholas’s church, Newcastle’ and not TG1460 (Exhibitions: Royal Academy, London, 1798, no.703; Girtin Archive, 35). With not even a photograph to work from, it is difficult to be sure about this or, indeed, to comment with any confidence about the authenticity of the watercolour. However, although its size might indicate that it was the exhibited watercolour, the work only realised £7 17s 6d at the 1934 sale, suggesting that Tom Girtin’s confidence in the attribution was not generally shared, and it may consequently have been a poor copy, perhaps worked up from the engraving published in 1808 (see print after TG1083). Looking at the print again suggests another possibility, however, since it is clear that it is not after TG1460 after all, though it follows the composition closely. The credit line thus records that it was made ‘from a drawing by J. L. Bond after a Sketch by T. Girtin’, and TG1460 is by no stretch of the imagination a sketch. It is just possible, therefore, that the missing watercolour fetched so little in 1934 because it is an insubstantial study, though the more likely explanation is surely that the untraced view of St Nicholas is the finished drawing made by ‘J. L. Bond’ for engraving. Little is known about the architect John Linnell Bond (1764–1837), but his work as an architectural draughtsman seems to have equipped him with the necessary skills to realise a sketch of a scene such as this into a convincing watercolour suited to reproduction.
(?) 1798
St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
TG1460
(?) 1798
St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
TG1460
1797 - 1798
St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
TG1083
(?) 1798
St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
TG1460
(?) 1798
St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
TG1460