- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- The Eildon Hills, from the River Tweed at Dryburgh
- Date
- 1800
- Medium and Support
- Graphite, watercolour and scratching out on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 49.3 × 64.3 cm, 19 ⅜ × 25 ¼ in
- Inscription
‘Girtin 1800’ lower left, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour; Visible Fold in the Paper
- Subject Terms
- River Scenery; The Scottish Borders
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1718
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 354 as 'The Eildon Hills, near Melrose'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001
Provenance
James Stuart-Wortley, 1st Baron Wharncliffe (1776–1845); B. M. Oliver; his sale, Christie’s, 27 April 1867, lot 2 as 'Eildon Hills, near Abbotsford. Signed 1800. From Lord Wharncliffe’s Collection' (noted as 'faded'); bought by 'Noseda'; Thomas Calvert Girtin (1801–74); then by descent to George Wyndham Girtin (1836–1912) (lent to London, 1875; London, 1877); then by descent to Thomas Girtin (1874–1960); presented to the Museum, 1920
Exhibition History
London, 1875, no.56 as ’Eildon Hills’; London, 1877, no.310 as ’Weston, River Wharfe’; London, 1912, no.41; Edinburgh, 1978, no.8.2
Bibliography
Stoddart, 1801, p.279; Mayne, 1949, pl.30; Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.74; Rock, 1997, p.192
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, 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, USA
A Town on an Estuary
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
A Lagoon Capriccio
Birmingham Museum & 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
Private Collection
Kelso Abbey: The West Front
The Whitworth, 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, 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, Birkenhead
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 City Art Gallery
Kirk Deighton, near Wetherby
The Whitworth, 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, 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 City 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 City 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
An Upland Landscape, Identified as Storiths Heights, near Bolton Abbey
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Richmond Castle, from the River Swale
Leeds City 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 Museum & 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
Kelso Abbey: The West Front
Private Collection, Northumberland
The Eildon Hills, from the River Tweed at Dryburgh
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 Art Gallery, Sheffield
Lydford Castle, from the River Lyd
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
St Vincent’s Rocks and the Avon Gorge
The Whitworth, University of Manchester
On the River Taw, North Devon, Looking from Braunton Marsh towards Instow and Appledore
National Gallery of Art, Washington
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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
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Museum of New Zealand, Wellington
A Farmyard with Cattle, Poultry and Labourers Unloading Hay, Possibly Pinckney's Farm, Radwinter
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
A Mountain Stream with a Watermill and Bridge
Eton College, Windsor
Unidentified Landscape with a Distant Rain Shower
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
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Victoria and Albert Museum, London
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About this Work
This very faded watercolour, which dates from 1800, shows a distant view of the Eildon Hills taken from the river Tweed near Dryburgh in the Scottish Borders. Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak thought that the view depicted was from Melrose (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.182), but the angle of the hills accords much better with the view from Dryburgh, where Girtin is known to have stayed in 1800 with the 11th Earl of Buchan (1742–1829) at his nearby seat (Jenkins, Notes, 1852). The authors of the catalogue of Girtin’s watercolours also suggested that the work came from Buchan’s collection, though this cannot be substantiated, and we do not know the identity of the ‘friend’ who lent the work to the author John Stoddart (1773–1856) in 1801 for engraving as an illustration to his Remarks on Local Scenery and Manners in Scotland during the Years 1799 and 1800 (see the print after, above) (Stoddart, 1801, p.279). Indeed, at one point it did cross my mind that the work may have been copied from another source, rather than originally having been sketched on the spot, following the discovery of a strikingly similar image by the amateur artist Thomas Sunderland (1744–1828) (see figure 1). This, however, must have been copied from the print, and I now suspect that the work was produced on commission from a sketch made in 1800, as it does not conform to the size of the watercolours that Girtin was supplying at this date to Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835), who acted on behalf of the artist in his final years in a role somewhere between agent and dealer. Surely it is not the case that Girtin made the watercolour for reproduction, as with many of his earlier topographical views. Stoddart thus mentions in the body of his text that he was grateful to be ‘able to insert a scene from a drawing of Mr. Girtin, executed with all that spirit and effect for which he is so remarkable’, so that it was as an example of the still-living artist’s skill that the work was included, rather than for its subject. Sadly, this is very difficult to appreciate today as a result of the work’s poor, faded condition. The hand-coloured aquatint, combined with the evidence of a thin strip around the work that was once protected from the detrimental effects of light, can give only a slight idea of its original appearance, prior to the loss of all the greys in the clouds and the blues in the sky, and the complete corruption of the greens of the vegetation. Consequently, I am not sure how Girtin and Loshak justified characterising the watercolour as an ‘intensely poetic’ conception, arguing that it is ‘most spacious, for here Girtin has suggested immense depth’, since a sense of space and distance is dependent on the subtleties of aerial perspective, which is singly lacking here (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.74).