The attribution to Girtin of this badly faded view of barns and a pond has been questioned, but, on balance, the work appears to be an autograph variation of a composition known from a slightly larger and more extensive watercolour (TG1418). Fine passages such as the reflections in the water and the characteristic treatment of the oak tree, comparable with one seen in a view on the river Ure (TG1692), suggest that the work is indeed by Girtin, and perhaps a little later than the date of 1798 suggested by Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.171). The less compressed version is inscribed on the back ‘Bromley Church Kent’, and which though not in Girtin’s hand, seems to have established an improbable title for both compositions. Bromley was the home of one of Girtin's most prominent pupils and collectors Amelia Long, Lady Farnborough (1772–1837) and what has been identified as a copy of this composion has been attributed to her (see TG1418 figure 1). Another watercolour from the Long collection, known for a long time as ‘View near Bromley’ (TG1338), is more probably a scene in North Wales, whilst this work has more in common with the rural subjects Girtin produced from sketches made in the flat countryside of Essex, and specifically with A Mill in Essex (TG1416), which is in the same private collection in Norfolk. The crucial point is not whether the view is in Kent or Essex, however, as the scene is essentially a picturesque view of vernacular buildings, and a topographically specific title is, I suggest, inappropriate in any case.

On a technical note, the paper historian Peter Bower has described the support used by Girtin as an off-white laid wrapping paper manufactured by an unknown English maker, and he has confirmed that it comes from the same source that the artist used for Kirkstall Abbey (TG1635), Cottages at Hawes (TG1694), A Distant View of Guisborough Priory (TG1699) and A Mill in Essex (TG1416), all of which can be dated to 1799–1800 (Bower, Report). The use of the same paper for this work strongly suggests, therefore, that doubts about its attribution were primarily prompted by its poor faded condition. The technical evidence is arguably more important in establishing the work’s status than the fact that it seems to have come from the collection of the artist’s son, since not all of the watercolours owned by Thomas Calvert Girtin (1801–74) came from his father’s studio, and he also purchased works of varying degrees of authenticity on the open market.

I now think that the 'copy' by Amelia Long referred to above (TG1418 figure 1) is actually an original composition by her and that Girtin instead used her drawing as the source material for his two watercolours. A copyist would surely have followed closely Girtin's more compressed and unified composition and the more logical explanation for the differences between the work of the amateur and the professional is that Girtin took a drawing by his pupil and improved upon it as a lesson in compositional unity. Much as Girtin appears to have done with sketches by Sir George Beaumont (1753–1827) such as Borrowdale (see TG1582 source image) the professional used the work of an amateur as the basis of his own watercolour in a way that was instructional and which added to his own stock of subjects. Given that this drawing is more extensive one might conclude that it is TG1418 that is the more likely candidate for the work made for Amelia Long, therefore, and that this drawing is a further refinement of the source material.

1799 - 1800

Barns and a Pond, Said to Be near Bromley

TG1418

1800 - 1801

An Ancient Oak, Said to Be on the River Ure

TG1692

1799 - 1800

Barns and a Pond, Said to Be near Bromley

TG1418

1798 - 1799

An Unidentified Landscape, Possibly the Vale of Clwyd

TG1338

(?) 1799

A Mill in Essex

TG1416

1800

Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Hill

TG1635

1800 - 1801

Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck

TG1694

1800 - 1801

A Distant View of Guisborough Priory; The Tithe Barn, Abbotsbury

TG1699

(?) 1799

A Mill in Essex

TG1416

1799 - 1800

Barns and a Pond, Said to Be near Bromley

TG1418

1799 - 1800

Borrowdale

TG1582

1799 - 1800

Barns and a Pond, Said to Be near Bromley

TG1418