Girtin produced a second set of hand-coloured impressions of his etchings, which were carefully mounted and sold by John Girtin to the dedicatee of the publication, George Capel-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex (1757–1839), for £50 (see figure 1). The two sets have been the cause of considerable confusion, but, following the discovery of new evidence about John Girtin’s role in the project, it has been possible to distinguish their very different functions (Smith, 2017–18, pp.32–35). The set sold to the earl is thus complete, and it is carefully rendered and presented so as to resemble Girtin’s finished watercolours. In contrast, the group of eighteen hand-coloured etchings, which were once owned by Francis Russell, 7th Duke of Bedford (1788–1861), are very much working drawings; indeed, in some cases they have been cut down, presumably to disguise their careless treatment whilst in the studios of the four men who were employed by the Girtin brothers to add aquatint to the plates. The utilitarian function of the latter can also be identified by the fact that, in addition to providing instructions to the professional aquatinter regarding the distribution of light and shade, they also include Girtin’s amendments, such as the prominent barge shown in the foreground here. The issue has been complicated further by the existence of what appears to be a second colour study by Girtin (see figure 2), though this may be an example of an unknown artist colouring an impression of the soft-ground etching
Some time around 1812 John Girtin revisited the plates for the Paris aquatints and reprinted the set using a black ink instead of sepia. Some of the prints from the set formerly in the collection of the bibliophile John Roland Abbey (1894–1969) are on paper with a watermark of 1812 including this impression of plate two (see print after 2, above), though the date on the bottom of the print still reads 16 December 1802.
This hand-coloured impression of plate two comes from a set of the Paris prints that was sold in 1947 when they were listed in the sale catalogue ‘as soft-ground etchings, before the aquatint ground was added, coloured by the artist’ (Sotheby’s, 5 March 1947, lot 454). The colouring is of no great quality and were it not for the provenance I would in all likelihood have suggested that the washes were added to the etching by an amateur working from the published aquatints. However, knowing that this set of prints came from the collection of Richard Ford (1796–1858) who inherited the presentation set of hand-coloured outlines (see figure 1) from the Earl of Essex makes an attribution of the watercolour washes to Girtin plausible if not entirely convincing. John Girtin’s subscription list for the prints notes that in addition to buying the ‘Paris Drawings’ for £50 the Earl of Essex also paid eighteen guineas for two sets of proofs and a set of the etchings2 The inflated price paid for the etchings suggests that they may have been enhanced, though this might have been the work of John Girtin.
1802
The Louvre and the Pont Royal, Taken from the Pont Neuf: Pencil Study for Plate Two of ‘Picturesque Views in Paris’
TG1864
1802
The Louvre and the Pont Royal, Taken from the Pont Neuf: Pencil Study for Plate Two of ‘Picturesque Views in Paris’
TG1864
About this Work
This view of the Louvre and the Pont Royal, looking down the river Seine from the Pont Neuf, was coloured by Girtin working over his own soft-ground etching (see print after TG1864), which, in turn, reproduced the artist’s on-the-spot pencil drawing made in early 1802 (TG1864). He added the washes for the guidance of Richard Harraden (1778–1862), who was employed to aquatint the artist’s plate, fleshing out the lines of the etching with tones that approximate to those of a monochrome sketch (see the print after, above). The completed print was published a few weeks after the artist’s death as plate two of Twenty of the Most Picturesque Views in Paris and Its Environs by his widow, Mary Ann Girtin (1781–1843), and his brother, John Girtin (1773–1821), the latter of whom, in addition to financing the project, took over the final stages of its production. The twenty prints were finally published together in an edition of around 130, with the etchings selling for four guineas, the aquatints for five guineas and a set of proof impressions six guineas (Hardie, 1966–68, vol.2, p.8; Smith, 2017–18, pp.32–35). The large prints were very much a luxury product, so it is somewhat surprising that the list of subscribers includes, in addition to many of the best known of Girtin’s patrons, a significant number of artists, amongst which are the names of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), Sir William Beechey (1753–1839), Benjamin West (1738–1820), John Hoppner (1758–1810) and Henry Edridge (1768–1821) as well as many of Girtin’s fellow watercolourists, such as John Varley (1778–1842) and John Glover (1767–1849) (Chancery, Income and Expenses, 1804).1