Thomas Girtin, (1775-1802)

Okehampton Castle, Devon, with cattle and a herdsman in the foreground

Details

Thomas Girtin, (1775-1802)
Okehampton Castle, Devon, with cattle and a herdsman in the foreground
with inscription 'Built by Baldroni de Boronii, who, as appears by Doomesday- Book/was in Possession of it when that survey was taken' (on the reverse of the mount)
pencil and watercolour
4 x 5 in. (10.2 x 13.3 cm.)

Provenance

Moore-Miller.
T.C. Girtin.
G.W. Girtin; and thence by descent to Thomas Girtin, Jun.

Literature

T. Girtin and D. Loshak, The Art of Thomas Girtin, 1954, no. 69.

Exhibited

Sheffield, Graves Art Gallery, Early Watercolours from the Collection of Thomas Girtin, 1953, no. 39.

Lot Essay

Girtin and Loshak date that this watercolour to 1794 and suggest that it is based on a drawing by James Moore, executed circa 16 July 1791. Moore was Girtin's first patron; a wholesale linen draper and an enthusiastic topographer, Moore travelled around England between 1784 and 1794, gathering material for his collection and his topographical publications. Moore was not an accomplished draughtsman but Girtin based a number of his watercolours on drawings made by Moore on the spot.

A later signed version of this subject, (measuring 9 x 136 in.) was in the collection of Victor Rienaecker and is now in the Rhode Island School of Design (see T. Girtin and D. Loshak, op.cit., no. 287, exhibited Rhode Island School of Design, Selection II: British Watercolours and Drawings, 13 April-14 May, 1972, no. 41.).

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