- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) and Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) after (?) John Henderson (1764-1843)
- Title
-
- Dover: Fishing Boats at Low Tide
- Date
- 1795 - 1796
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 28.6 × 20.5 cm, 11 ¼ × 8 ⅛ in
- Object Type
- Collaborations; Monro School Copy; Work after an Amateur Artist
- Subject Terms
- Coasts and Shipping; Dover and Kent
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG0848
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2014
Provenance
Arthur Crossland (1879–1962); his sale, Christie’s, 9 March 1956, lot 20 as 'Fishing Boats and Rowing Boats' by Joseph Mallord William Turner; bought by 'Wilder'; an Estate Sale, Sotheby’s, 11 July 1996, lot 21 as 'Fishing Boats on the Shore' by Joseph Mallord William Turner, £2,300; ... Guy Peppiatt Fine Art, 2013-14; Shepherd / W&K Galleries, New York; Sotheby’s, New York, 31 January 2024, lot 186 as by Thomas Girtin and Joseph Mallord William Turner, unsold; Guy Peppiatt Fine Art Ltd.
Exhibition History
Guy Peppiatt, London, 2014, no.13 as ’Fishing Boats at Low Tide’ by Joseph Mallord William Turner; Shepherd / W&K Galleries, New York, 2015, no.21 as by Joseph Mallord William Turner; Guy Peppiatt, London, 2025, no.18, £19,500
Place depicted
Other entries in Monro School Copies:
British Views, Including Works after the Outlines of John Henderson
An Upland Landscape with a Rainbow, Said to Be Lowther Fells
Kendal Town Hall
Windsor Castle and Park with Deer
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Tonbridge Bridge and Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The High Rocks, near Tunbridge Wells
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
The Town of Rye, Seen from the Marshes
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Dover Castle, Seen from the Beach
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Upland Scene with a Wooded Valley
Leeds University Art Gallery
Ullswater: Looking Towards the Head of the Lake
Tate, London
Unidentified Medieval Ruins, with Agricultural Buildings
Tate, London
A View near Keswick, Probably Bassenthwaite Lake
Private Collection
Skiddaw and Bassenthwaite Lake, from the Vale of Newlands
Private Collection
Looking South into Borrowdale, from the Shore of Derwentwater
Private Collection
Mountainous Landscape, Possibly in the Lake District
Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool
Boon Crag Cottage, with Coniston Water Beyond
Private Collection
A View in Cumbria, Probably Looking from Irton Fell towards Ravenglass
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
A View in Cumbria, Looking towards Irton and the Irish Sea, with the Isle of Man in the Distance
Tate, London
The River Leven, Cumbria, Viewed from Penny Bridge
Tate, London
St John's Vale, Cumbria
Private Collection
The Lodore Falls
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Langdale Pikes
Private Collection
An Unidentified Bridge over a Stream, Possibly in North Wales
Private Collection
Derwentwater, with Skiddaw in the Distance
Eton College, Windsor
Beddgelert Bridge, North Wales
Private Collection
Nant Mill, Betws Garmon, North Wales
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
A Mountainous River Landscape with a Bridge
Private Collection
Cynwyd Mill, near Corwen, North Wales
Brandler Galleries, Brentwood
Conwy: The Town Walls from the South East
Tate, London
Raglan Castle: The Great Hall
Private Collection
A Mountainous Landscape with an Unidentified Bridge, Possibly in North Wales
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Iron Bridge at Coalbrookdale
Private Collection
An Estuary, Possibly Dartmouth
Private Collection
Grasmere: Looking North West to Helm Crag
Private Collection
The Head of Lake Windermere
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
The Head of Derwentwater, with the Lodore Falls
Private Collection
Dover Harbour, with Shipping Being Overhauled
Tate, London
A Two-Master in Dover Harbour, with the Castle Beyond
Tate, London
Dover Harbour: A Ship Being Overhauled
Tate, London
A Boat on the Shore, near Shakespeare Cliff, Dover
Tate, London
Dover Harbour: Fishing Vessels, Their Sails Drying
Tate, London
Shipping in Dover Harbour, with the Castle Beyond
Tate, London
Ullswater: Looking South to the Head of the Lake
Private Collection
A General View of Dover Harbour, from the East
Tate, London
Dover Harbour: Small Boats by the Quay
Tate, London
Boats in Dover Harbour
British Museum, London
An Unidentified Waterfall
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Ship under Repair in Dover Harbour
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
Borrowdale: The View from Rosthwaite
Private Collection
Figures on a Fishing Vessel in Dover Harbour
Private Collection
A Fishing Vessel with Hastings Beyond
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Dover Castle from the Sea
Private Collection
A Beached Vessel in the Inner Harbour at Dover
Private Collection
Dover Harbour, with the Castle on the Hill
British Museum, London
Dover Harbour
Private Collection
Beached Vessels in Dover Harbour, the Castle in the Distance
Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton
Vessels Anchored in Dover Harbour, with the Castle Beyond
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Warehouses with Shipping in Dover Harbour
Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton
Vessels in the Harbour at Dover, with the Castle Beyond
Private Collection
Dover Harbour, with the Cliffs Beyond
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart
Vessels Moored in Dover Harbour
Private Collection
The Inner Harbour, Dover, with the Castle Beyond
Brighton Museum and Art Gallery
A Ship Drawn Up on a Beach Being Careened
Private Collection
Beached Fishing Vessels, Dover Harbour
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
Beached Fishing Vessels in the Harbour at Dover
Private Collection
Boats Anchored in Dover Harbour
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Boats Anchored in Dover Harbour
Private Collection
Dover Harbour, with Fishing Boats at Low Tide
The High Museum of Art, Atlanta
Dover: The Harbour with Vessels
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
A Smack in Dover Harbour, Drying Sails, with the Old Church in the Distance
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
Dover Harbour: A Boat under Repair
Private Collection
Fishing Boats at Low Tide, near Dover
Courtauld Gallery, London
Dover: Two Boatmen Standing by the Prow of a Brig
Private Collection
Dover Harbour
Private Collection
A Fisherman's Cottage, Said to Be at Dover
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Hull of a Ship under Repair, with a Barge and Smaller Boats
Tate, London
A Boat-Builder’s Yard, Possibly on the River Medway
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
A Boat-Builder’s Yard, Possibly on the Medway
Private Collection
A Boat-Builder’s Yard, Possibly on the River Medway
Private Collection
A Boat-Builder's Shed, Possibly on the River Medway
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
A Boat-Builder’s Shed, Possibly on the River Medway, with a Fishing Boat with Drying Sails
Tate, London
The Coast, near Dover
The Higgins, Bedford
Folkestone Harbour
Julian Huxley-Parlour Fine Art, London
Beachy Head, Looking towards Newhaven
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Beachy Head, Looking towards Newhaven
Ulster Museum, Belfast
Shakespeare Cliff, Dover
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
Beached Vessels in Dover Harbour, the Castle in the Distance
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Buildings on a Wooden Quayside
Private Collection
A Coast View with Chalk Cliffs, Probably from near Beachy Head
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Small Boat under Repair by a Jetty
Private Collection
Dover: Snargate Street, Looking West
Private Collection
Dartford High Street
Private Collection
Tonbridge Bridge and Castle
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Rye, from the River Tillingham
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Dover: Fishing Boats at Low Tide
Private Collection
Two Boatmen Caulking the Bows of a Beached Brig, Probably at Dover
Private Collection
Hastings: A Beached Fishing Boat
Private Collection
A Coastal Scene at Dover
Worthing Museum and Art Gallery
Mickleham Church
Tate, London
An Overshot Mill
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Dolbadarn Castle on Llyn Padarn
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
Conwy Castle, from the East
Huddersfield Art Gallery
Harlech Castle, from the South
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
The Gatehouse, Harlech Castle, Seen from the Moat
Private Collection, Gloucestershire
The High Street at Egham
Private Collection
A Packhorse Bridge
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Boats in Dover Harbour
Leeds Art Gallery
A Dismasted Boat in Dover Harbour
Harvard Art Museums / Fogg Museum
Two Trees Overlooking a Meandering River
Private Collection
A Dilapidated Cottage
Private Collection
Dover: Boats Anchored in the Harbour
Private Collection
A Coastal View near Dover, probably at St Margaret's, Cliffe
Private Collection
Dover: Beached Boats, with the Castle Beyond
Private Collection
Dover Harbour: The Stern of a Large Ship, and Smaller Vessels
Tate, London
The Town of Rye, Seen from the Marshes
British Museum, London
Footnotes
- 1 The full diary entry, giving crucial details of the artists’ work at Monro’s house, is transcribed in the Documents section of the Archive (1798 – Item 2).
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About this Work
This view of beached fishing boats at low tide displays many of the signs that mark the unique collaboration between Girtin and his contemporary Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) at the home of Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833). Here the two artists were employed across three winters, probably between 1794 and 1797, to copy ‘the outlines or unfinished drawings of’ principally John Robert Cozens (1752–97), but other artists too, including the patron’s neighbour, the amateur John Henderson (1764–1843), who lent his ‘outlines for this purpose’ (Farington, Diary, 30 December 1794). Henderson visited Dover in the autumn of 1794 and the ‘outlines of Shipping & Boats’ he made there, described by the diarist Joseph Farington (1747–1821) as ‘Very ingenious & careful’, provided the basis for a substantial number of copies commissioned by Monro (Farington, Diary, 1 December 1795). As with the copies the artists made after the sketches of Cozens, ‘Girtin drew in outlines and Turner washed in the effects’, with Turner receiving ‘3s. 6d each night’ though ‘Girtin did not say what He had’ (Farington, Diary, 12 November 1798).1
Girtin is not known to have visited Dover and all of his views of the town were copied after secondary sources, including subjects by his master, Edward Dayes (1763–1804). However, whilst Turner travelled to the port in 1793 and executed a series of studio watercolours after his own sketches, the majority of the Dover subjects sold from Monro’s collection, numbering as many as a hundred, were still produced after the work of other artists (Christie’s, 26 June 1833; Christie’s, 1 July 1833). The source for this work has not been traced, but comparisons with the sketches used by the Monro School artists in the production of other Dover views – such as A Boat on the Shore, near Shakespeare Cliff, Dover (TG0797), which displays the same fascination with the minutiae of marine labour and similarly includes a disparate group of vessels randomly deposited by the departing tide – suggest that it was an outline by Henderson. The measurements of the watercolour, which conform to the smaller-scale sketches produced by Henderson (c.21 × 28 cm, c.8 ¼ × 11 in), such as Figures on a Fishing Vessel in Dover Harbour (TG0808), combined with the employment of the upright format, which he favoured for his studies of single vessels, also point in the same direction.
All of the views of Dover sold at Monro’s posthumous sale in 1833 were attributed to Turner alone, but, despite the pioneering article published by Andrew Wilton in 1984, which established the joint authorship of such works as the norm, this watercolour was still listed as solely by Turner when it last appeared on the art market (Wilton, 1984a, pp.8–23). However, Turner’s sparing application of a monochrome palette leaves much of Girtin’s distinctive and inventive pencil work visible, not least in the rigging, which is left untouched, allowing us to appreciate Girtin’s contribution to the overall effect of the drawing. In comparison with more fully worked Dover subjects, such as Shipping in Dover Harbour, with the Castle Beyond (TG0799), the result of Turner’s limited application of grey washes is more akin to an on-the-spot colour sketch than a studio watercolour, and this is in keeping with a view that uncharacteristically does not include any working figures.
1795 - 1796
A Boat on the Shore, near Shakespeare Cliff, Dover
TG0797
1795 - 1796
Figures on a Fishing Vessel in Dover Harbour
TG0808
1795 - 1796
Shipping in Dover Harbour, with the Castle Beyond
TG0799