- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- The Old Cottage, Widmore, near Bromley
- Date
- 1800 - 1801
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 30.8 × 51.5 cm, 12 ⅛ × 20 ¼ in
- Inscription
‘Girtin’ lower left, by Thomas Girtin, slightly cropped
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Dover and Kent; Picturesque Vernacular; Rural Labour
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1749
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 276 as '1798–9'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001 and 2018
Provenance
John Jackson (d.1828); his posthumous sale, Foster’s, 24 April 1828, lot 324 as 'View at Widmore, near Bromley, Kent'; bought by 'Roberts', £7 17s 6d; William Gratwick; the Revd Thomas Baugh; his widow, Mrs Baugh; A. Pearse; bought by Thos. Agnew & Sons, 27 March 1914, £100; bought by Robert Wylie Lloyd (1868–1958), 1914, £150 (stock no.8272); bequeathed to the Museum, 1958
Exhibition History
Agnew’s, 1919, no.2 as 'The Road through the Village'; Agnew’s, 1931, no.105; Agnew’s, 1953a, no.103 as 'A Country House by a Roadside'; London, 1985, no.74
Bibliography
Cundall, 1922–23, pp.4–5 as 'Landscape'; Sloan, 1998, p.141; Smith, 2002b, p.113
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
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About this Work
This fine watercolour, in excellent condition, is one of a series of views that Girtin made of scenes in the area of Bromley in Kent, about twenty kilometres south of London (including TG1422). Though there are doubts about the subject of some of the views traditionally said to depict Bromley (for instance, TG1338 and TG1418), other watercolours showing the same rambling cottage or farmhouse by Richard Ramsay Reinagle (1775–1862) (see figure 1) and David Cox (1783–1859) (Guy Peppiatt Fine Art, 2008) confirm this to be a scene in the nearby village of Widmore, though why so many artists were attracted to the same, admittedly very picturesque, building is not clear. It has been suggested that Girtin visited the area in connection with his patrons Sir Charles Long, 1st Baron Farnborough (1760–1838), and his wife Amelia Long, Lady Farnborough (1772–1837), the latter of whom was said to be his favourite pupil. However, the couple did not buy their estate at Bromley Hill until 1801, and it may be that, like his contemporaries, Girtin simply recognised a good subject in the course of a journey out of London. Certainly, the view across the village pond to the embowered old house ticks all of the boxes for a picturesque subject, recalling many of the farm scenes that Girtin produced for his patron Phineas Borrett (1756–1843) around 1799 (such as TG1413 and TG1414). The mix of tiled and thatched roofs, brick chimneys, and plaster work with half timbering, used in combination to build a vernacular structure that appears to have grown organically over the centuries, makes for a highly attractive subject, and this is enhanced by the extra attention that Girtin lavished on the figures that populate the scene. In addition to the stock characters of the rider watering his horse and the woman with a bundle on her head, who appear in numerous guises in the artist’s works, there are charming vignettes of family groups, pets and a woman hanging out the washing in her garden.
Details such as this, combined with the excellent condition of the watercolour, which indicates that Girtin carefully excluded from his palette any of the more fugitive pigments that have subsequently caused so many of his works to fade and discolour, might suggest that the work was made on commission, if not for the Longs then perhaps for another patron with local connections. The only evidence to the contrary relates to the fact that the work conforms to the larger of the two standard sizes that the artist supplied after 1800 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, and stylistically the watercolour does indeed appear to postdate the other Bromley subjects, and it may have been painted as late as 1801. In fact, there is some evidence to link the work to a known patron of the artist, John Jackson (d.1828), the father-in-law of Girtin’s brother John Girtin (1773–1821), whose posthumous sale included a ‘View at Widmore, near Bromley, Kent’ (Exhibitions: Foster’s, 24 April 1828, lot 324). Jackson acquired the majority of his large collection of the artist’s works through John Girtin, but he also claimed, according to early biographers of Girtin, that he ‘used to play the patron … going about with him and supplying him with money, and promising him good dinners, on condition that he should first make his host a drawing’ (Roget, 1891, p.119). It is just possible that this was the case here.
1798 - 1799
A Sandpit, near Logs Hill, Widmore
TG1422
1798 - 1799
An Unidentified Landscape, Possibly the Vale of Clwyd
TG1338
1799 - 1800
Barns and a Pond, Said to Be near Bromley
TG1418
(?) 1799
Pinckney’s Farm, Radwinter
TG1413
(?) 1799
Turver’s Farm, Wimbish
TG1414