- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) and Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) after (?) John Henderson (1764-1843)
- Title
-
- Dover: Two Boatmen Standing by the Prow of a Brig
- Date
- 1795 - 1796
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on paper
- Dimensions
- 22 × 29.5 cm, 8 ⅝ × 11 ½ in
- Object Type
- Collaborations; Monro School Copy; Work after an Amateur Artist
- Subject Terms
- Coasts and Shipping; Dover and Kent
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG0828
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 1998
Provenance
Sir Bruce Stirling Ingram (1877–1963); his posthumous sale, Sotheby’s, 9 December 1964, lot 383 as 'Men Carrying Out Repairs to the Prow of a Ship, on a beach at low tide' by Joseph Mallord William Turner; bought by 'T. S. Stewart', £190; sold by his widow, Sotheby’s, 16 July 1998, lot 68 as 'Two Boatmen Standing by Rowing Boats and the Hull of a Brig' by Joseph Mallord William Turner, £12,650
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

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

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

A Mountainous Landscape with an Overshot Mill
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

A Lake View, Possibly Ullswater
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

A Ship under Repair in Dover Harbour
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin

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

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

Boats in Dover Harbour
Leeds Art Gallery

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 the prow of a beached brig, probably in Dover harbour, 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 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 (Exhibitions: Christie’s, 26 June 1833; Christie’s, 1 July 1833). The specific source for this work has not been traced, but comparisons with the sketches used by the Monro School artists in the production of other port views – such as Dover Harbour: The Stern of a Large Ship, and Smaller Vessels (TG1473), which displays a similar fascination with the minutiae of marine labour – suggest that it was an outline drawing by Henderson. The amateur’s numerous Dover views are essentially variations on a set of themes, with the same vessels, buildings, views and naval operations returning in different combinations, and it is a measure of their skill that both Turner and Girtin were able to create from this unpromising source a unified body of work that includes sufficient variety to maintain interest levels. The trestles close to the prow of the vessel suggest that the boatmen are about to undertake some repair work on the hull, much as is shown in what could be a companion work, Two Boatmen Caulking the Bows of a Beached Brig (TG0849); indeed, this watercolour may show the same brig from the port side. Confirmation that both vessels were originally sketched by Henderson at Dover comes from the discovery of another version of the composition that includes an extensive view of the port in the background (see figure 1).
All of the views of Dover sold at Monro’s posthumous sale in 1833 were attributed to Turner alone, but, despite the fact that the joint authorship of the Monro School subjects has become increasingly the norm following the publication of Andrew Wilton’s pioneering article in 1984, this work was listed as solely by Turner when it last appeared at auction in 1998 (Wilton, 1984a, pp.8–23). However, the division of labour is all the easier to establish when, as here, Turner’s sparing use of monochrome washes leave extensive areas of the paper clear to act as highlights, so that Girtin’s distinctive pencil work is visible, for instance, in the rigging and on the figures. The latter bear a strong resemblance to other Monro School scenes, such as A Smack in Dover Harbour, Drying Sails (TG0825) and Beached Fishing Vessels in the Harbour at Dover (TG0820), where the activities of the fishermen and boatmen clearly held Henderson’s attention as much as the shipping.
The attribution of the second version of the composition is less straightforward, however. The work was acquired by the Courtauld Institute Gallery, London, with an attribution to Turner, but Wilton has suggested that it is ‘a copy after Girtin’ (Selborne, 2008, p.60). No watercolour of the composition by Girtin is known to exist, however, and I suspect that it is actually an anonymous copy of the untraced Henderson original sketch, which includes the distant view of Dover omitted in the work discussed above. The view of the town in this slightly less extensive view is particularly poorly executed, though where the artist was able to copy the lines of the foreground vessel, the effect is more credible, albeit compromised spatially by the quality of the monochrome washes which give no sense of the shape of the hull.
1795 - 1796
Dover Harbour: The Stern of a Large Ship, and Smaller Vessels
TG1473
1795 - 1796
Two Boatmen Caulking the Bows of a Beached Brig, Probably at Dover
TG0849
1795 - 1796
A Smack in Dover Harbour, Drying Sails, with the Old Church in the Distance
TG0825
1795 - 1796
Beached Fishing Vessels in the Harbour at Dover
TG0820