Around 1800, Girtin was commissioned by Thomas Hibbert (1744–1819) to produce two views of his recently remodelled seat of Chalfont House in Buckinghamshire (TG1564 and TG1565), together with another pair showing the newly built lodge on the estate, including this view of the north front (the other being TG1563). The four watercolours, each measuring about 42 × 55 cm (16 ½ × 21 ⅝  in), were probably framed for display on the walls of Hibbert’s home, and collectively they represent, after Girtin’s work for Edward Lascelles (1764–1814), the artist’s most ambitious and innovative exercise in the tired genre of the country house portrait. 

Chalfont Lodge was situated seven hundred metres north-east of the main house, and it was designed by John Nash (1752–1835) as a picturesque eye-catcher. Although the lodge resembles a simple picturesque cottage, with the addition of a vaguely Gothic entrance porch, it was in fact built for the use of Hibbert’s brother and eventual heir, Robert Hibbert (1750–1835), and it was carefully set in its own grounds, which included an ornamental lake and kitchen gardens. In contrast to its pair, the view of the lodge from the south is all but occluded by the trees that surround the lake. If we did not know the identity of the building, it is unlikely that we would conclude that it was a newly built house seen from an artificial lake, rather than a picturesque old building glimpsed through a well-established screen of trees. The landscape surrounds of the house therefore work on two levels. Firstly, the lodge is carefully sited so that it takes advantage of the existing plantings and forms an attractive composition both from the near viewpoint (as here) and from a long distance (for the benefit of the owner of the park). And, secondly, on a micro scale, the building’s immediate surrounds were carefully cultivated to form a private pleasure ground for the figures who are shown walking its paths. In contrast to the semi-public space shown in The South Front of Chalfont Lodge (TG1563), Girtin depicts the artful garden plantings as an enclosed space where nature can be enjoyed at a stately pace befitting a glorious summer’s day. 

The re-emergence of this watercolour at a sale in 2018 after it had not been seen in public for over a hundred years caused, initially at least, some confusion. An old, poor-quality black and white photograph in the Girtin Archive (12/5) appeared to show a second very close, identically sized version of the same composition (see figure 1). The only discernible difference between the two was the presence of a second swan on the water below the figure of the man in the centre. However, after carefully considering the two images, I am now satisfied that the precise congruence between myriad tiny incidental details across the wholes of both images is beyond the capability of any artist to replicate – not even Girtin, whose replicas, such as the views of Wetherby Bridge (TG1643 and TG1644) and the ruins of the Roman baths at the Hôtel de Cluny in Paris (TG1896 and TG1897), are very close but never deceptive. As for the presence of the second swan in the old photograph, who knows, but perhaps it was painted by Girtin in white bodycolour that has subsequently flaked off, or perhaps the photograph was doctored in someway.

(?) 1800

Chalfont House, from the North East, with Fishermen Netting the Broadwater

TG1564

(?) 1800

Chalfont House, from the North West

TG1565

(?) 1800

The South Front of Chalfont Lodge, Seen from across the Lawn

TG1563

(?) 1800

The South Front of Chalfont Lodge, Seen from across the Lawn

TG1563

(?) 1800

Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills

TG1643

(?) 1800

Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills

TG1644

(?) 1802

Paris: The Ruins of the Roman Baths, Hôtel de Cluny

TG1896

(?) 1802

Paris: The Ruins of the Roman Baths, Hôtel de Cluny

TG1897