- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- (?) Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) after (?) Edward Dayes (1763-1804)
- Title
-
- Worcester, from the River Severn
- Date
- (?) 1792
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 22.8 × 29.5 cm, 9 × 11 ⅝ in
- Object Type
- Work from a Known Source: Contemporary British
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG0077
- Description Source(s)
- Museum Website
Provenance
Sir Henry Doulton (1820–97); then by descent to Lewis John Eric Hooper (1879–1955); his widow, Elizabeth Hooper (1897–1975); ... Christie's, 5 November 1974, lot 154 as by Joseph Mallord William Turner; bought by John Mitchell & Son, 1100 gns, for Kurt F. Pantzer (1892–1979); bequeathed to the Museum, entering the collection in 1996
Bibliography
Krause, 1997, pp.50–51 as by Edward Dayes; IMA Collection Online as by Edward Dayes (accessed 02/09/2022)
Place depicted
Other entries in Master and Pupil:
Edward Dayes and the Industrious Apprentice
An Icelandic Woman in Her Riding Dress
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik
An Icelandic Woman with Her Young Daughter
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik
The Great Geysir, Iceland, as It Appeared during Its Eruption to Sir Joseph Banks in September 1772
Private Collection
Mount Hekla, with Sir Joseph Banks and His Party Descending from the Volcano
Private Collection
Lava as It Has Run Over the Ridge of a Hill, Iceland
Private Collection
The House of Thorstein Jonsson at Hvaleyri, Iceland
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik
A Section of the 'Boiling Fountains' (Geysers) and the Surrounding Country, Iceland
Private Collection
The Basalt Pillars near Laugarnes, Iceland
Private Collection
An Icelandic Woman in Her Bridal Dress
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik
Durham Cathedral, from the River Wear
The Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg
Eton College, from the River
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
London: Interior of St Stephen Walbrook, Looking East
Private Collection
Rochester, from the River Medway
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
St Mary’s Church, Battersea
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
Unidentified Coastal Village, Said to Be Clovelly
Private Collection
The Monument to Anthony and Anne Forster, Cumnor Church
Private Collection
The Interior of Buildwas Abbey Church
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Somerset House: The Strand Front and the Royal Academy
Untraced Works
An Exterior View of Henry VII’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
Westminster Bridge, from the North East
Untraced Works
The Oxford Street Facade of the Pantheon
Untraced Works
The Interior of Westminster Abbey: The Nave Looking East
Untraced Works
The Queen’s Palace, or Buckingham House
Royal Collection Trust (Windsor)
The King’s Mews, Charing Cross
London Metropolitan Archives
The East Front of St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of St Martin-in-the-Fields
Untraced Works
The Banqueting House, Whitehall
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The Interior of St Paul’s Cathedral: The Nave Looking East
Untraced Works
St Paul’s Cathedral, from the South West
Untraced Works
The West Front of St Paul’s Cathedral
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Westminster Abbey
Untraced Works
Interior of St Stephen Walbrook, Looking East
Untraced Works
A French Lady of Quality in 1581
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Edward VI in 1550
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Noble Virgin of Bologna in 1581
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Persian Lady in 1568
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An English Nobleman in 1559
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Henry VIII in 1520
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Marlow, from across the River Thames
Private Collection
Tynemouth Priory, from the Coast
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
The River Wensum at Norwich
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Rochester Castle, from the River Medway
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Tintern Abbey, from the River Wye
Courtauld Gallery, London
All Saints' Church, Fulham, from the Seven Bells, Putney
Private Collection
London from Highgate Hill
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
'First Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Officer and Subaltern
British Museum, London
'First Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Sergeant and Private
British Museum, London
First Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660: Drummer and Private
Brown University Library, Providence, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection
'Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, 1650': Officer and Sergeant
British Museum, London
'Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, 1650': Sergeant and Private
British Museum, London
Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, 1650: Drummer and Corporal
Brown University Library, Providence, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection
'Third Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Officer and Sergeant
British Museum, London
'Third Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Grenadier and Private
British Museum, London
Third Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660: Drummer and Private
Brown University Library, Providence, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection
Christ Church, Southwark
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Llanthony Priory
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Rochester, from the North
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The View from the Great Boathouse, Lake Windermere
Private Collection
Westminster Abbey and Bridge, from Lambeth
Private Collection
The Dover Mail, Dover Castle in the Distance
Private Collection
Rochester Cathedral and Castle, from the North East
Eton College, Windsor
Worcester, from the River Severn
Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
Lake Windermere and Belle Isle
Wordsworth Grasmere (Dove Cottage and Wordsworth Museum)
London Bridge, from the South Bank
Private Collection
The Demolition of a Building, Said to Be Part of the Ruins of Old Drury Lane Theatre
Private Collection
Dover Castle: The Constable's Tower
Untraced Works
A Cottage on the Solent
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Hereford Cathedral, from the River Wye
Hereford Museum and Art Gallery
Chepstow Castle, on the River Wye
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Warehouse and Shipping at Wapping
Leicester Museum & Art Gallery
A Distant View of Hereford Cathedral
Private Collection
The Gatehouse and Barbican, Warwick Castle
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Chepstow Castle, from the River Wye
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Interior of a Ruined Abbey Church
Private Collection
The Head of Ullswater, from Goborrow Park
Private Collection
Part of the Ruins of Roche Abbey
Private Collection
The Transept of St Saviour’s, Southwark
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Palace, Westminster Bridge Beyond
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Durham Cathedral, from the River Wear
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne
All Saints' Church, Marlow
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Caesar’s Tower, Warwick Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Bronze Age Palstave and a Roman Bow Brooch
Society of Antiquaries of London
All Saints' Church, Marlow
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Unidentified Monastic Ruins next to a River
Private Collection
Westminster, from the Ruins of the Savoy
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Manchester: Chetham’s College from Hunt’s Bank, with the Bridge over the River Irwell
Untraced Works
Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Palace, Westminster Bridge Beyond
Private Collection
The Oriel Window of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Exterior View of Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Private Collection
A Distant View of Marlow, from the River Thames
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
A Distant View of Marlow, from the River Thames
Private Collection
An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Palace, Westminster Bridge Beyond
Private Collection
Buildings in the Process of Demolition, Said to Be the Ruins of the Savoy Palace
Tate, London
An Exterior View of Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Tate, London
An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Tate, London
St Mary’s Church, Monken Hadley
Tate, London
An Exterior View of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The Interior of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Private Collection
The Interior of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Private Collection
The Interior of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
St Mary's Church, Putney High Street
Private Collection
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About this Work
This view of Worcester Cathedral with the square tower of All Saints to the left and the spire of St Andrew in the centre has not until now been associated with Girtin. For much of its recorded history the work was attributed to Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), who visited the city in 1793; however, after its acquisition by the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the authorship was changed to Edward Dayes (1763–1804) and the work was given a date of about 1795. However, although it is not signed, the work contains a number of stylistic elements that link it to some of the watercolours Girtin produced whilst an apprentice to Dayes after his master’s compositions, including Rochester Castle, from the River Medway (TG0057). Features such as the horizontal lines in the water, the simple blocked-out foreground bank and the subdued palette – albeit changed by fading – are all features of a number of works that were executed during Girtin’s apprenticeship to Dayes and that his master looked to sell at auction as his period of indentures came to an early end around 1792. It is possible, therefore, that this watercolour was the view of Worcester sold by Greenwood in 1793 (Exhibitions: Greenwood, 24 May 1793, lot 75) and that it reappeared at Langdon’s in 1803 as by ‘J. Girtin’ and with the title ‘A View of Worcester Cathedral, with the River, small Craft near the Town, Figures, &c.’ (Exhibitions: Langdon, 13 April 1803, lot 65). Intriguingly, a Girtin View of Worcester was sold by Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833) as early as 1799 (Exhibitions: Christie’s, 11 May 1799, lot 54) and it is possible that Girtin’s important early patron therefore first came across the artist’s work through an early sale of one of his apprentice works.
The Dayes composition on which this watercolour was based has not been traced, though a small view from the opposite direction survives (see figure 1). Dayes visited the cathedral towns of Hereford and Worcester in 1792 and this trip provided Girtin with material for a number of other compositions, including Hereford Cathedral, from the River Wye (TG0155), which is signed and dated 1793.
(?) 1791
Rochester Castle, from the River Medway
TG0057
1793
Hereford Cathedral, from the River Wye
TG0155