- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- (?) Edward Dayes (1763-1804) after James Moore (1762-1799)
- Title
-
- The West Front of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
- Date
- 1792 - 1793
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on paper
- Dimensions
- 13 × 21 cm, 5 ⅛ × 8 ¼ in
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour; Work after an Amateur Artist
- Subject Terms
- Monastic Ruins; North Wales
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG0113
- Description Source(s)
- Auction Catalogue
Provenance
Herbert William Underdown (1864–1944); his sale, Sotheby's, 30 March 1927, lot 106 as 'Llanegwst Abbey' by Thomas Girtin; bought by 'Henderson', £8; ... Derek Lockett (d.1993); Sotheby's, 16 July 1987, lot 83 as by Edward Dayes, £462
Place depicted
Other entries in First Steps as a Professional Artist:
James Moore and British Antiquities

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An Interior View of the Ruined East End of Tynemouth Priory Church
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The East End of Tynemouth Priory Church
Private Collection

Kidwelly Castle
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence

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Private Collection

Dumbarton Rock and the Castle, from the North West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Jedburgh Abbey, from the East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Interior of the Albion Mills, Southwark, after the Fire
Private Collection

Kinloss Abbey: The Abbot's House
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Conwy Castle, Looking West
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Duff House, from the South
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

An Unidentified Round Tower
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino

Glasgow Cathedral, from the North East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Part of the Ruins of Alton Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The West Front of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Private Collection

The Albion Mills, Southwark, after the Fire
Newport Museum and Art Gallery

Bamburgh Castle, from the East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The Ruins of the East End of St Andrews Cathedral
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery

Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Touchstones Rochdale

Colchester Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The Great Keep, Kenilworth Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

The Castle Rock, Edinburgh
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge

London: The Demolition of the Old Porch of the Guildhall
London Metropolitan Archives

The Gatehouse, Denbigh Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Kirkstall Abbey, from the South East
Private Collection

Buildwas Abbey
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence

The West Front of Brechin Cathedral, with the Round Tower
Private Collection

The Great Gate, St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Conwy Castle: The Bakehouse Tower
Private Collection

Lindisfarne Priory Church, Looking West from the Choir
Tate, London

Kirkstall Abbey, from the North West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

The Tithe Barn at Abbotsbury, with St Catherine's Chapel on the Hill
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Kirkstall Abbey, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Dunstaffnage Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Spynie Palace, near Elgin
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Dunnottar Castle in a Thunderstorm
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Part of the Ruins of Croxden Abbey, from the East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The Great Keep, Kenilworth Castle, with Leicester's Gatehouse in the Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Battle Church, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields

The Gatehouse, Denbigh Castle
Private Collection

The Ruins of Lewes Castle, from the West
Private Collection

Ewell Church, with a Funeral Procession Approaching
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane

Rustic Figures in a Landscape, with Pigs
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

St Peter's Church, Bexhill, from the East
Private Collection

Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

A Cow Grazing near a Pond, with a Church Tower Beyond
Private Collection

Duff House, from the River
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

A Landscape with a Shepherd and Flock
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino

Melrose Abbey, from the South West
Private Collection

A Cottage, Said to Be near Battle in Sussex
Private Collection

Ely Cathedral, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Private Collection

The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Private Collection

Lindisfarne Priory Church, Looking West from the Choir
Private Collection, Scotland

Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Pevensey Castle: The North Tower with the Gatehouse in the Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

The Spire of Salisbury Cathedral, from Chorister's Green
Private Collection

The Landgate, Rye
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

The Landgate, Rye
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

The Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The Strand Gate, Winchelsea
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

The West Tower, All Saints' Church, Hastings
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Rochester Castle, from the South
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The West Front of Byland Abbey
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery

All Saints' Church, Hastings, from the North East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

An Ancient House, Possibly in Sussex
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Kenilworth Castle: The View from the South
Private Collection

Kenilworth Castle: Seen from the South East
Private Collection

Tolleshunt D’Arcy Church
Private Collection

St Peter's Church, Bexhill, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The Ruined Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle, Seen from the North
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Saltwood Castle: The Gatehouse
Private Collection

The Ruined Gatehouse, Pevensey Castle, from the East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The Ruined Gatehouse, Pevensey Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The Gatehouse, Battle Abbey
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown

Carlisle Cathedral, from the South West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

The Gatehouse, Battle Abbey
Private Collection

St Mary the Virgin, Eastbourne
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

An Unidentified Landscape with a Figure Seated on a Gate under a Tree
Private Collection

The West Front of Crowland Abbey
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The West Front of Crowland Abbey
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Pevensey Castle: View of the North and East Towers
Private Collection

The Ruins of the Great Hall, Kenilworth Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

All Saints' Church, Hastings, from the North West
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The Refectory, St Martin’s Priory, Dover
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Saltwood Castle: The Gatehouse from a Farmyard
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Spynie Palace: A Coastal View
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

St Clement's Church, with Hastings in the Distance
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The East End of the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Private Collection

The East End of the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The West Tower, St Clement's Church, Hastings; Studies of a Horse in Harness and Numerous Architectural Details
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Undercliff, near Hastings
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The Ypres Tower, Rye
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

An Unidentified Village with a Half-Timbered House
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Hastings: The View across the Beach to Castle Hill
Hastings Museum and Art Gallery

Hastings Castle and Priory Bridge
Hastings Museum and Art Gallery

Tolleshunt D’Arcy Church
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh

Battle Abbey Gatehouse, from the South West
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

St Clement’s Church, Sandwich, from the North
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

St Peter's Church, Bexhill: The West Tower
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

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Bolton Museum and Art Gallery

The East End of Icklesham Church
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

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The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino

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Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

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One of the Alard Monuments in the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

One of the Alard Monuments in the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

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Harvard Art Museums / Fogg Museum, Loan from George and Patti White

A Thatched Barn with Farm Animals
Private Collection

A Timber-Frame House with a Hill Beyond
Tate, London

A Farmyard with Pigs Drinking at a Pond
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino

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About this Work
This view of the west front of the ruined church of Valley Crucis Abbey in Denbighshire, North Wales, is based on a sketch made by the amateur artist and antiquarian James Moore (1762–99) (see the source image above). The drawing by Moore is dated 21 August and it was reproduced as an aquatint by George Isham Parkyns (c.1749–1824) and published in Moore’s Monastic Remains and Ancient Castles in England and Wales (see figure 1) (Moore, 1792). However, although the work was initially attributed to Girtin on the grounds that it was the same size as the seventy or so watercolours of the nation’s castle and monastic ruins that he made for Moore, there is no evidence that artist’s earliest patron ever owned a view of Valle Crucis. Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak did not include the work in their 1954 catalogue of Girtin’s works (Girtin and Loshak, 1954), and the more recent attribution on stylistic grounds of the work to Edward Dayes (1763–1804), at the time of its sale at auction in 1987, is more plausible. Indeed, although the work is clearly based on Moore’s drawing, the careless, even neurotic handling of the washes is actually more typical of the cheaper commodities that Dayes produced for the open market in watercolour sketches and it lacks the more considered approach to buildings that Girtin brought to his work for Moore. The attribution to Dayes is backed up by the existence of a signed and dated version by him of the same composition from 1791 (sold at Sotheby’s, 19 November 1981, lot 35) that measures 33.7 × 49 cm (13 ¼ × 19 ¼ in), and presumably this was the work commissioned by Moore. Girtin himself went on to make a series of views of the picturesquely sited Valle Crucis, both from the work of Moore (TG0208, one of three versions) and later from sketches made on his own visit to North Wales in 1798 (TG1345), but the depictions of the ruins always have a sense of structure that is singularly lacking in this watercolour.
1792 - 1793
The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
TG0208
1798 - 1799
Valle Crucis Abbey: The Chapter House, from the South West
TG1345