Girtin's early work shares stylistic elements with the work of his friend and contemporary, J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). In the early 1790s the two young artists were regular attendees at Dr. Thomas Monro's informal 'academy' (see lot 66) where they were able to study and copy works by established watercolour artists. Both Turner and Girtin sought out picturesque subjects; mills with animals and distant water formed an often-used composition for their early watercolours.
However, the present drawing does not seem to have been made on site, but instead appears to be based on a motif from Thomas Hearne's (1744-1817) illustration to Oliver Goldsmith’s (1728-1774) The Vicar of Wakefield, with the building and trees in particular bearing a strong resemblance to those in Hearne's image. The scene, which shows Mr Burchell rescuing Sophia from the raging mill-stream, differs from Girtin's in that the water is a raging torrent rather than the placid waters seen in the present sheet, which render the mill itself redundant. However, rather than adapting the engraving, it is possible that Girtin based his work on a sketch by Hearne, of which there were any number of examples in Monro's collection. Indeed, it is not out of the question that this drawing was one of the nine Views, after Hearne that were sold at Monro’s posthumous sale in these Rooms, 1 July 1833, lots 109 and 113.
We are grateful to Greg Smith for his help in preparing this catalogue entry, and this drawing will be included in his forthcoming online catalogue raisonné as TG1435.