- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) after (?) Edward Dayes (1763-1804)
- Title
-
- The Bridge at Appleby
- Date
- 1795 - 1796
- Medium and Support
- Watercolour on paper
- Dimensions
- 14 × 20.3 cm, 5 ½ × 8 ½ in
- Subject Terms
- The Lake District, Westmorland
-
- Collection
- Versions
-
The Bridge at Appleby
(TG0299)
- Catalogue Number
- TG0267
- Description Source(s)
- Auction Catalogue
Provenance
Arthur Acland Allen (1868–1939); his sale, Sotheby's, 4 April 1935, lot 58; bought by Gooden & Fox Ltd., £48
Bibliography
Finberg, 1910, p.300
Place depicted
Other entries in Topography without Travel:
The British Landscape at Second Hand

Windsor Castle, from the River Thames
Untraced Works

Windsor Castle: The Norman Gateway and the Round Tower, with Part of the Queen's Lodge
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown

The Interior of Tintern Abbey, Showing the Choir and North Transept
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery

A View in Windsor Great Park with Deer
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

An Ancient House, Possibly in Sussex
Private Collection

The Interior of Tintern Abbey, Looking towards the West Window from the Choir
Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery

The Ruins of Newark Priory Church
Tate, London

Lancaster Castle and Priory Church, Seen with the Old Bridge over the River Lune
Private Collection

Barnard Castle and Bridge, from the River Tees
Tate, London

The Ruined West Front of Dunbrody Abbey Church, County Wexford, Ireland
Tate, London

The Refectory of Walsingham Priory
British Museum, London

The Ruined East End of Walsingham Priory Church
Tate, London

The West Tower of Rumburgh Priory Church
Tate, London

Dumbarton Rock, from the North
Tate, London

Part of the Ruins of Middleham Castle
Tate, London

Kidwelly Church, with the Castle Beyond
Tate, London

Kelso Abbey, from the North West
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The Keep, Portchester Castle, from the North East
Tate, London

The Keep of Rochester Castle, from the South East
Tate, London

Part of the Ruins of Middleham Castle
Tate, London

Margam Abbey Church, from the North West
Tate, London

The Ruined East End of Walsingham Priory Church
Tate, London

The Ruins of the Holy Ghost Chapel, Basingstoke
Tate, London

The Medieval Kitchen, Stanton Harcourt
Tate, London

Part of the Ruins of Lewes Castle, from the West
Tate, London

Glasgow High Street, Looking towards the Cathedral
Tate, London

The Keep of Hedingham Castle, from the East
Tate, London

The South Transept, Much Wenlock Priory Church
Tate, London

Newport Castle, Monmouthshire
Private Collection

Portchester Castle, from the Outer Bailey
Tate, London

The Refectory of Walsingham Priory
Tate, London

An Unidentified Church close to a Road
British Museum, London

The Keep of Hedingham Castle, from the South West
Tate, London

Kirkstall Abbey, from the North West
Tate, London

Kirkstall Abbey, from the North West
Tate, London

The Ruined Gateway of Mettingham Castle
Tate, London

The Keep of Rochester Castle, Seen from outside the Walls
Tate, London

Tintern Abbey, from the River Wye
Private Collection

Tintern Abbey: The View from the Nave
Private Collection

The Market at Aberystwyth
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Lancaster Castle, from the River Lune
Tate, London

Lancaster Castle, from the River Lune
Tate, London

Lancaster Priory Church, Seen with the Old Bridge over the River Lune
Tate, London

Buttermere Bridge, from the Fish Inn
Tate, London

The Medieval Kitchen, Stanton Harcourt
Private Collection, Norfolk

Rochester Cathedral, from the North East, with the Castle Beyond
Tate, London

Glasgow High Street: Looking towards the Cathedral
Tate, London

A Distant View of Corfe Castle
Tate, London

Chichester Cathedral, from the South West
Tate, London

The Gatehouse of Amberley Castle
Tate, London

A Lake and Mountains, Possibly in the Lake District
Tate, London

A Lake and Mountains, Possibly in the Lake District
Tate, London

An Unidentified View across a Lake, or along a Coast
Tate, London

A Road by a Pond, with a Church in the Distance
Tate, London

A Road by a Pond, with a Church in the Distance
British Museum, London

A Church Tower amongst Trees, with a Cart in the Foreground
British Museum, London

An Unidentified Landscape, with a Church amongst Trees
Tate, London

Trees near a Lake or River, at Twilight
Tate, London

A Hilly Landscape, with a Two-Arched Bridge
Private Collection

A Distant View of Tynemouth Priory, from the Sea
Tate, London

An Upland Landscape, Possibly in Northumberland
Private Collection

A Bridge in the Lake District, Possibly Grange Bridge, Borrowdale
Private Collection

Bridgnorth, on the River Severn
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino

Knaresborough, from the River Nidd
Private Collection
Revisions & Feedback
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About this Work
Girtin’s second view of Appleby in Westmorland has not been seen since it was sold at auction in 1935. Given that no photograph appears to exist, it is known only from an engraving that appeared in The Copper-Plate Magazine in 1799 (see the print after, above) (Walker, 1792–1802, vol.4). Girtin certainly never travelled to Appleby, and therefore, as in the case of the similar view that he painted for Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833) (TG0299), he must have based his watercolour on a composition by his master, Edward Dayes (1763–1804). The engraving closely resembles the larger of the two watercolour versions by Dayes (see figure figure 1), including, as it does, the overarching tree to the left that is omitted in the small watercolour produced for Monro, as well as more of the buildings to the right. Indeed, so close is the comparison of the engraving made and published by John Walker (active 1776–1802) in 1799 and the watercolour by Dayes that, were it not for the inscription on the former, which reads ‘from an Original Drawing by T. Girtin’, I suspect that I would have assumed that the print was after the work by Girtin’s master. In the absence of even any photographic evidence, the issue must be left unresolved until the reappearance of the work. However, to summarise, there are three options to be considered. Firstly, it may be that Girtin is the author of the untraced watercolour but that, on this rare occasion, he based his work very closely on a finished drawing by Dayes and that Walker’s assertion that it was an ‘Original’ by Girtin was designed to cash in at a time when Girtin’s commercial stock was high. Secondly, the missing watercolour might actually be by Dayes and the publisher might have either accidentally or deliberately misrepresented the fact. Finally, could it actually be that the larger watercolour attributed to Dayes, now at Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal (see figure 1), is the work sold at auction in 1935 as by Girtin? The measurements certainly tally and it may even be that it was this Appleby view that was engraved.
1795 - 1796
The Bridge at Appleby
TG0299