- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- The South Front of Chalfont Lodge, Seen from across the Lawn
- Date
- (?) 1800
- Medium and Support
- Graphite, watercolour and bodycolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 28 × 37.8 cm, 11 × 14 ⅞ in
- Inscription
‘Girtin’ lower left, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Commissioned from Thomas Girtin; Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Buckinghamshire View; Country House View; The Landscape Park
-
- Collection
- Versions
-
The South Front of Chalfont Lodge, Seen from across the Lawn
(TG1563)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1562
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 245i as 'Chalfont Lodge'; '1797–8'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001
Provenance
(?) Robert Hibbert (1750–1835); then by descent; the Leicester Galleries, London, 1919; bought by Thomas Girtin (1874–1960), £40; given to Tom Girtin (1913–94), c.1938; bought by John Baskett on behalf of Paul Mellon (1907–99), 1970; presented to the Center, 1986
Exhibition History
Agnew’s, 1931, no.123 as ’The Dower House, Chalfont’; London, 1962a, no.140; Reading, 1969, no.42
Bibliography
Morris, 2002b, p.63
Place depicted
Other entries in Edward Lascelles and Harewood, Together with Other Houses of the Gentry
The Summer House in the Garden of Samuel Wood at Southgate
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Alnwick Castle, from Brizlee
Alnwick Castle, Northumberland
Ships in a Harbour, Possibly at Bristol
Harewood House, Yorkshire
An Estuary Scene, Probably in the West Country
Harewood House, Yorkshire
A Mountain View, near Beddgelert
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
Unidentified Ruins with a Panoramic View
Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool
A Circular Temple, Said to Be in Harewood Park
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Lake Scene with Cattle, Said to Be in Harewood Park
Private Collection
A Close View of Harewood House, from the South East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Harewood House, from the South West
Harewood House, Yorkshire
Harewood House, from the South East
Harewood House, Yorkshire
Buildings on the River Nidd, near Knaresborough
Toledo Museum of Art
Plumpton Rocks, near Knaresborough
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
On the River Wharfe at Bolton Abbey
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
A Reconstruction of the Elizabethan Wing of Moreton Corbet Castle
Private Collection
A Reconstruction of Moreton Corbet Castle, from the West
Private Collection
A Landscape with an Unidentified House
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
An Unidentified Small Country House
Dowle Fine Art, London
An Unidentified House in an Open Landscape
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart
An Unidentified Small Country House or Lodge
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The North Front of Chalfont Lodge, Seen from the Lake
Guy Peppiatt Fine Art Ltd
The South Front of Chalfont Lodge, Seen from across the Lawn
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The South Front of Chalfont Lodge, Seen from across the Lawn
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Chalfont House, from the North East, with Fishermen Netting the Broadwater
Private Collection, Herefordshire
Chalfont House, from the North West
Private Collection, Herefordshire
Melville Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Distant View of Arundel Castle, from the South
Arundel Castle, Sussex
A Lake Surrounded by Trees, Known as 'The Silent Pool'
Private Collection
A Lake Scene with Two Herons, Possibly in Cassiobury Park
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
The Well House, Ashtead Park, Formerly Known as 'The Sawmill, Cassiobury Park'
Watford Museum
Hatfield House, from the South East
British Museum, London
A House and Garden at Winster in Derbyshire
British Museum, London
A House at Winster
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
An Unidentified Georgian House, Said to Be Lobes Hill in Shropshire
Private Collection
A Distant View of a Castle, Said to Be Lowther in Westmorland
Private Collection
An Ornamental Ruin in a Park; A Tree on a Mound
British Museum, London
A Hilly Landscape with Sheep and Cattle
The Canon Gallery, near Oundle
A Distant View of Knaresborough, from the South East
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Guisborough Priory: The Ruined East End
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Jedburgh from the River, with the Abbey Beyond
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
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About this Work
This smaller version of the view of the south front of Chalfont Lodge in Buckinghamshire has all of the signs of being a copy of the watercolour that was painted by Girtin for the estate’s owner, Thomas Hibbert (1744–1819) (the larger work being TG1563). It contains fewer figures, it is smaller in scale at 28 × 37.8 cm (11 × 14 ⅞ in) compared to 40 × 53.7 cm (15 ¾ × 21 ⅛ in), and the handling is generally more summary, lacking the bodycolour highlights that help to give the larger work a sense of presence as a framed object. Girtin no doubt scaled back the labour involved in the production of a more workmanlike, altogether cheaper commodity, the palette of which does not match the works commissioned by Thomas Hibbert. Girtin made replicas of his works on a number of occasions such as the views of Wetherby Bridge (TG1643 and TG1644) and the ruins of the Roman baths at the Hôtel de Cluny in Paris (TG1896 and TG1897), but unlike those examples were it is fruitless to speculate about which version came first, this work was evidently made subsequent to the original commission from Hibbert, and it seems, with a waning interest on behalf of the artist. Any resulting doubts about the authenticity of the work, however, are allayed by the genuine signature, which was perhaps added with such concerns in mind.
Susan Morris has suggested that the work was commissioned by another member of the Hibbert family and that the prime candidate was Robert Hibbert (1750–1835), for whom the lodge was built and who ultimately inherited the estate from his childless brother Thomas (Morris, 2002b, p.63). Indeed, it is difficult to believe that anyone else would have commissioned a view that could only have held meaning for an owner of the property or a member of their family.
(?) 1800
The South Front of Chalfont Lodge, Seen from across the Lawn
TG1563
(?) 1800
Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills
TG1643
(?) 1800
Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills
TG1644
(?) 1802
Paris: The Ruins of the Roman Baths, Hôtel de Cluny
TG1896
(?) 1802
Paris: The Ruins of the Roman Baths, Hôtel de Cluny
TG1897