- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- The Abbey Mill, near Knaresborough
- Date
- 1800 - 1801
- Medium and Support
- Graphite, watercolour, bodycolour and scratching out on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 32.4 × 55.2 cm, 12 ¾ × 21 ¾ in
- Inscription
‘Mr. Reynolds Poland St. Soho No.48’ on the back, by Samuel William Reynolds
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- River Scenery; Wind and Water Mills; Yorkshire View
-
- Collection
- Versions
-
The Abbey Mill, near Knaresborough
(TG1607)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1672
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 437ii as '1801'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001
Provenance
Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835); ... E. H. Greg; James Cyril Butterwick; Sir George Davies; then by descent to Mrs Streatfield; Thos. Agnew & Sons; Sir William Arthington Worsley of Hovingham, 4th Baronet (1890–1973); Thos. Agnew & Sons, 1971 (stock no.0256); bought from them by Paul Mellon (1907–99); presented to the Center, 1975
Exhibition History
Agnew's, 1944, no.70, £450 (as ’The Old Water-Mill’ in the first edition); Agnew’s, 1953a, no.94 as ’The Abbey Mill, Knaresborough’; Leeds, 1958, no.53; New York, 1972, no.96; New Haven, 1982, V.11.; New Haven, 1986a, no.83; New Haven, 1986b, no.30; Harewood, 1999, no.27; Richmond, Virginia, 2007, no.85
Bibliography
The Art Journal, vol.65 (1903), p.126; Worsley, 1963, no.24, p.6
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

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 The letters are transcribed in the Documents section of the Archive (1801 – Item 4 and 1803 – Item 3).
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About this Work
This fine late watercolour, showing the Abbey Mill near Knaresborough, on the river Nidd, is based on a sketch in the Whitworth Book of Drawings (TG1607). The original outline appears to date from 1800, the year in which Girtin made a number of other sketches in the close vicinity (such as TG1610) in preparation for a major commission from one of his most significant patrons, Edward Lascelles (1764–1814). Although Lascelles commissioned at least one watercolour of Knaresborough (TG1669), this view was almost certainly produced for sale on the open market, and thus would have been part of the stock of Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835), who acted on behalf of the artist in his final years in a role somewhere between agent and dealer. The back of the drawing is thus inscribed ‘Mr. Reynolds Poland St. Soho No.48’, and the watercolour itself conforms to the larger of the two standard sizes that Girtin produced for him to sell. A letter from Reynolds records that in October 1801 he owned ‘Drawings by Girtin … 19 Large size’ and that he valued them at ‘£7. 7 each’, whilst a later document notes that watercolours such as this sold for about £10 each (Reynolds, Letter, 1801; Reynolds, Letter, 1803).1
We do not know who Reynolds sold the work to, though there is a fair chance that the customer was unaware of the location depicted and that it was bought simply as a picturesque mill scene, irrespective of its specific topography. Unlike a commission, where the subject is specified by the patron, works produced as speculations, unless they show a well-known location, are likely to lose their identity and, typically, it was not until comparatively recently that the mill was recognised. What is more properly known as the Priory Mill stands just over a kilometre downriver from Knaresborough Castle, and, as Tom Girtin (1913–94) found when he photographed the site in the 1980s, the building, though just about recognisable, has been enlarged and modernised as a private house (Hill, 1999, p.44; photograph in the Girtin Archive, 35).
Happily, unlike too many of the watercolours that Girtin produced for Reynolds, this work is in good condition, though a protected strip to the right suggest that it has faded a little. The condition of the work allows one to appreciate a number of technical details that are otherwise difficult to spot, particularly Girtin’s sparing use of bodycolour for some of the highlights. Small patches of opaque white are thus touched over with green or blue in the foliage, or pink as on the riverbank, to create a sparkling effect that could not be realised in transparent watercolours alone. The white highlights in the river are treated very differently, with the foaming water of the undershot mill wheel created by leaving the paper untouched, whilst other areas, including the weir to the left, were created using a broad, dry brush, which allows the paper to show through as highlights, with just a sparing use of scratching out to vary the effect and offer some texture. The use of scratching out to create the figures to the right of the mill, in an area removed from the foliage, was apparently a late change of mind, added, presumably, to complement the overturned cart to the right.
A small, faded copy of the composition is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (see figure 1). It has been attributed to Girtin’s follower William Pearson (1772–1849), but, given the work’s provenance, Reynolds, who must have had access to the original, would appear to be the more likely candidate. However, the work is very poor in quality, and, though the artist has copied some details correctly, they have completely misunderstood the working of an undershot mill, and I suspect that the work was produced by a not very competent amateur artist. A poor quality image of what appears to be another copy of the composition is noted as having been through the hands of Thos. Agnew & Sons, though no other details are known.
(?) 1800
The Abbey Mill, near Knaresborough
TG1607
(?) 1800
Grimbald Crag, near Knaresborough
TG1610
1801
A Distant View of Knaresborough, from the South East
TG1669