Documents: A Year by Year Record of Dated Watercolours and Prints, Early Accounts of the Artist and His Works, Manuscript Material Relating to Sales and Collections

1796 Documents

Documents, Dated Watercolours and Early Accounts of the Artist

Dated Watercolours

Langton Hall (TG1028)
The Interior of St Albans Abbey (TG1040)
One of the Alard Monuments in the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea (TG0352)
Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate (TG0372)

Dated Sketch

The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins (TG1228)

1 January 1796

Westminster Bridge (see print after TG0027) is published in Charles Taylor’s (1756–1823) publication The Temple of Taste (Taylor, 1794–96).

14 January 1796

John Girtin (1773–1821) lends the artist 6s to buy ‘a vol of Don Quixote’ (Chancery, Income and Expenses, 1804). The novel by Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) was a popular source of imagery with artists at this date including Thomas Girtin’s contemporary Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) who painted Don Quixote and the Enchanted Barque (Private Collection).

28 January 1796

Thomas Girtin’s A Bronze Age Palstave and a Roman Bow Brooch (TG0246) is shown at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries, painted for the Revd John Homfray (1768–1842).

1 February 1796

The Bank of England (see print after TG0355) is published in Charles Taylor’s (1756–1823) publication The Temple of Taste (Taylor, 1794–96).

1 March 1796

Inside of St. Stephen’s Walbrook (see print after TG0045) is published in Charles Taylor’s (1756–1823) publication The Temple of Taste (Taylor, 1794–96).

1 April 1796

The Royal Exchange (see print after TG0031) is published in Charles Taylor’s (1756–1823) publication The Temple of Taste (Taylor, 1794–96).

2 May 1796

Inside of Westminster Abbey (see print after TG0033) is published in Charles Taylor’s (1756–1823) publication The Temple of Taste (Taylor, 1794–96).

1 June 1796

Carlton House (see print after TG0029) is published in Charles Taylor’s (1756–1823) publication The Temple of Taste (Taylor, 1794–96).

1 July 1796

Inside of St. Paul’s Cathedral (see print after TG0041) is published in Charles Taylor’s (1756–1823) publication The Temple of Taste (Taylor, 1794–96).

Summer–Autumn 1796

Thomas Girtin embarks on a northern tour that probably includes stops in Yorkshire (York, Rievaulx, Ripon, Richmond and Easby); Northumberland (Egglestone, Barnard Castle, Durham, Finchale, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tynemouth, Seaton Sluice, Bothal, Hexham, Morpeth, Alnwick, Warkworth, Dunstanburgh, Bamburgh, Lindisfarne and Etal); and the Scottish Borders (Dryburgh, Kelso, Melrose and Jedburgh). Tom Girtin (1913–94) suggests that the artist also visited St Albans, Boston and Tattershall on the way, though there is no evidence to support this (Girtin Archive, 32). None of the sketches produced on the tour are signed.

11 October 1796

John Girtin (1773–1821) notes that he lent money to the artist: ‘Oct^r 11^th Lent him to pay his Rent at M^r Hollands 5. 5’ (Chancery, Income and Expenses, 1804).

An inscription on a pencil drawing, The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins (TG1228), has been incorrectly interpreted as including the same date, 11 October, but the trip to the north east and the Scottish Borders was almost certainly undertaken earlier in the year.