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West view of Dumbarton Castle

Maker

(artist)
1747-1821

Title

Date of Production

(October) 1788

Medium

graphite, watercolour and touches of bodycolour on white wove paper

Dimensions

Height: 22.9 cm
Width: 44.4 cm

Accession Number

D.1967.WS.42

Mode of Acquisition

William Wycliffe Spooner, bequest, 1967

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Joseph Farington’s knowledge and appreciation of the British landscape led naturally to an interest in topography and antiquities. From Richard Wilson he learnt to take notes of places by making rapid pencil sketches, often shaded in a single colour wash. This loosely worked drawing is a product of his first tour of Scotland. The turreted castle, perched between the craggy double-domed basalt of Dumbarton Rock, appears to grow organically from the rocky cliffs.

Notes

Farington toured Scotland for over three months due to a project to publish a book of engravings of Scottish scenes. The early death of the London bookseller, John Knox, put an end to the project. Other views by Farington of Dumbarton Castle are in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries, Whitworth Art Gallery (Manchester) and another was with Stephen Ongpin in 2012.

Provenance

William Wycliffe Spooner, Ilkley (1882-1967); Spooner Bequest 1967 Spooner bought two drawings by Farington from a volume of 25 at Colnaghi on 11 November 1959; there is no description of any of these drawings so it is not possible to verify whether he acquired this drawing there. If he did, that volume had been purchased by Colnaghi from C.H. Emanuel on 27 October 1959.

Exhibition History

British Watercolours from the Spooner Collection, Huntington Museum and Art Gallery, Los Angeles, 12/02/2005-15/05/2005

British Watercolours from the Spooner Collection, Huntington Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 12/02/2005-15/05/2005; Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere, 18/07/2005-23/10/2005; Hermitage Rooms, Somerset House, London, 16/11/2005-12/02/2006

Masters of the Watercolour - Watercolours from the Spooner
Collection, Holburne Museum of Art, Bath, 1969 ...More

English Water-Colours: Memorial Exhibition to William Wycliffe
Spooner, Harrogate, 1968 ...Less

Literature

English Water-Colours: Memorial Exhibition to William Wycliffe Spooner, Harrogate, 1968
cat. no. 16

Masters of the Watercolour - Watercolours from the Spooner Collection, Holburne Museum of Art, Bath, 1969
cat. no. 29

The Spooner Collection of British Watercolours, Courtauld Institute Galleries; Huntington Library; Wordsworth Trust, 2005-06
cat. no. 23
ill. on p. 119

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: colour notes within the drawing, graphite: right of centre, with line pointing to tower: “white”, lower left, on rock: “81”, below on beach: “grey”, lower right in water, faint and unclear: “gift [?]”; lower left, graphite, described and dated: “West view of Dumbarton Castle. October 1788.”; lower right, graphite, signed: “Jos: Farington”.

Collector's mark: none.

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