Thomas Girtin

Margaret Ethel Pheysey (d. 1957),

her executor’s sale, London, Sotheby’s, 4 December 1957, lot 38, bt Higgins, £140,

by descent to the present owners 

T. Girtin, and D. Loshak, The Art of Thomas Girtin, London 1954, no. 46ii;

G. Smith, Thomas Girtin (1775-1802): An Online Catalogue, Archive and Introduction to the Artist, no. TG0161 

This watercolour, which has remained in the same family collection since 1957, depicts the Great Gatehouse of Denbigh Castle, a fortress in north-eastern Wales that was commissioned by King Edward I of England in 1283, at the conclusion of his conquest of that country. Located around twenty-five miles from the border with England and likely to have been built to designs by Edward’s master mason, James of St George (d. circa 1306), the sculpted effigy above the entrance arch is thought to depict the king himself.

This watercolour, which has been tentatively dated to 1796-7, is one of two by Girtin that depict the structure from this viewpoint, the other - smaller in scale dating to circa 1791-2 - forms part of the collections at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven.¹ Girtin did not visit Denbigh until 1798, and both watercolours are based on a pencil drawing by James Moore (1762-1799), an amateur artist, antiquarian and patron of Girtin, who visited Wales in 1791.

As well as playing to the antiquarian and picturesque tastes of his time, in this watercolour Girtin has also clearly enjoyed creating an airy and light-filled sky and his sophisticated treatment of the landscape to right - which appears to dissolve into the summer haze thanks to his delicate use of watercolour washes - is particularly noteworthy.

We are grateful to Dr Greg Smith for his help when cataloguing this lot.

^1.Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, acc. no. B1975.3.1148