- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) after (?) James Moore (1762-1799)
- Title
-
- The Gatehouse of Amberley Castle
- Date
- 1795 - 1796
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper (card)
- Dimensions
- 7.7 × 12 cm, 3 × 4 ¾ in
- Object Type
- Colour Sketch: Studio Work; Work after an Amateur Artist
- Subject Terms
- Castle Ruins; Sussex View
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG0371
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in January 2018
Provenance
Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833); his posthumous sale, Christie's, 26 June 1833, lot 81 or 82 as 'Views and ruins, in colours, on cards 10' by 'Turner'; bought by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), £8 18s; accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest, 1856
Exhibition History
National Gallery, London, on display up to 1904, no.817a
Bibliography
Finberg, 1909, vol.2, p.1242 as 'Saltwood Castle, Kent' by Thomas Girtin; Tate Online as 'A Gateway with Two Round Towers' (Accessed 06/09/2022)
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
This informal sketch-like view of the fourteenth-century gatehouse to Amberley Castle in Sussex is one of a set of about twenty watercolour cards bought by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) at the posthumous sale of his and Girtin’s patron Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833) (Exhibitions: Christie’s, 26 June 1833, lots 81 and 82). They now form part of the Turner Bequest at Tate Britain, where the majority of them are attributed to Girtin. The watercolours, all painted on card measuring roughly 3 × 4 3/4 in (7.6 × 12.1 cm), were mainly executed around 1795–96 after a set of outline drawings that Girtin copied from the sketches of his first significant patron, the amateur artist and antiquarian James Moore (1762–99). In this case the outline has not been traced and it may also be that the ultimate source of Girtin’s image was a sketch by his master, Edward Dayes (1763–1804). A similar view of the gatehouse at Amberley was engraved for the Antiquarian and Topographical Cabinet and the print is inscribed as ‘after a sketch by E. Dayes’ (Storer and Greig, 1807–11, vol.1). A watercolour of the same view by Moore himself is noted as being ‘by J Moore from Sketch by E. J. Dayes’ and is dated ‘27 Sept 1790’ (see figure 1). However, the view depicted by Girtin is more face on. Therefore, in keeping with the amateur’s limited artistic abilities, it is not out of the question that Girtin worked from an untraced sketch that Moore made on subsequent trips to Sussex, in 1793 and 1795. The identity of the subject of this watercolour has also hitherto proved problematic, as it has variously been titled ‘Saltwood Castle, Kent’ and ‘A Gateway with Two Round Towers’. The discoveries of the views by Moore and Dayes during the course of the preparation of this online catalogue have at least finally established the correct identity.
It is possible that Monro may have had a publication in mind when he commissioned Girtin to produce small-scale watercolours such as this, but their rapid, even careless execution and sketch-like appearance, suggesting that the work was made on the spot, indicate an altogether different kind of commodity. Indeed, the subjects that were chosen for this informal sketch-like treatment do not follow any obvious pattern, either by geography or building type, that might have made for a thematically unified publication. It may be that there is nothing that unites the group other than that Girtin’s outlines after the sketches of Moore, Dayes and others provided a ready resource from which sketch-like watercolours might be rapidly produced.
The paper is discoloured as a result of excessive exposure to light whilst on long-term exhibition. The differently toned areas (left and right) were protected by an earlier mount.