- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- (?) Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) and Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) after (?) Edward Dayes (1763-1804)
- Title
-
- The Iron Bridge at Coalbrookdale
- Date
- 1794 - 1797
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 22.7 × 38.9 cm, 8 ¹⁵⁄₁₆ × 15 ⁵⁄₁₆ in
- Object Type
- Collaborations; Copy from an Unknown Source; Monro School Copy
- Subject Terms
- Industrial Scene; River Scenery; Shropshire View
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG0783a
- Description Source(s)
- Auction Catalogue
Provenance
Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833); his posthumous sale, possibly Christie's, 28 June 1833, lot 89 as 'Colebrooke Dale' by 'Turner' (one of six); bought by 'Linden', £3 7s; ... Christie's, New York, 25 May 1988, lot 302 as by Joseph Mallord William Turner, $17,600
Bibliography
Turner Studies, vol.8, no.1 (Summer 1988), p.58; Warrell, 2025a, p.13
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 the revolutionary cast-iron bridge built over the river Severn at Coalbrookdale in Shriopshire 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 Girtin’s master, Edward Dayes (1763–1804). The ‘finished drawings’ they were commissioned to produce were the result of a strict division of labour: ‘Girtin drew in outlines and Turner washed in the effects’. As the young artists reported to the diarist Joseph Farington, ‘They went at 6 and staid till Ten’ with Turner receiving ‘3s. 6d each night. – Girtin did not say what He had’ (Farington, Diary, 12 November 1798).1
The source for the drawing has not been located, but it is unlikely that it was based on an on-the-spot sketch by either Girtin or Turner. However, Coalbrookdale, as Celina Fox has shown, attracted the attention of numerous artists who from the 1750s recorded the attractive mix of industrial activity and picturesque wooded river scenery for what she terms the market for images from ‘industrial tourism’ – that is, even before the world’s first cast-iron bridge opened in 1779 (Fox, 2009, pp.408–16). Amongst those who concentrated on the bridge itself was George Robertson (1748–88), whose drawings provided the basis of six prints (published in 1788) detailing the industrial activities of the gorge, and Girtin would have been familiar with his work from the collection of his first significant patron, James Moore (1762–99). However, a more likely source for the Monro drawing is in the work of one of the artists featured in the patron’s own collection, such as Michael Rooker (1746–1801), whose The Cast Iron Bridge near Coalbrook Dale dates from 1780 (Aberdeen Art Gallery (ABDAG003021)), or Girtin’s master, Dayes. His watercolour Bedlam Furnace, Coalbrookdale (see figure 1), was actually bought by Turner at Monro’s posthumous sale in 1833, and other sketches by Dayes may well have been amongst the hundreds of sheets in Monro’s possession. Indeed, if the watercolour was copied from Dayes, we can be reasonably sure that the original was no more than a rapid outline sketch. The manner in which the bridge terminates in an impossible way to the left in addition to the general fudging of architectural and engineering details, certainly in comparison with Rooker’s view, confirms not only that the drawing could not have been made from personal experience but also that the source material must have been either very slight or, if by an amateur artist rather than Dayes, deficient in every respect.
The majority of the copies sold at Monro’s posthumous sale were listed as being by Turner working alone, and this generally remained the case until the publication of Andrew Wilton’s pioneering article in 1984, since when the joint attribution of the Monro School works to Turner and Girtin has increasingly become the norm (Wilton, 1984a, pp.8–23). This work was listed as solely by Turner when it appeared at auction in 1988, and sadly it is known only from a black and white photograph. This is good enough to establish that more than one hand helped in its creation, but not to confirm that the pencil work is definitively by Girtin.