A View of Denbigh Castle

Description

Creator: Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)

Title(s)

A View of Denbigh Castle

Date: 1777/07/16

Medium: Pen and ink, watercolour

Dimensions

image width 216mm,
image length 277mm

Mount: mounted by the artist

Inscription

sheet, recto, lower left
“F.Towne del^t. 1777 N^o.36”

Inscription

sheet, verso
“N^o.36 Denbigh Castle July 16^th[?] 1777 drawn on the spot by Francis Towne”

Inscription

artist's mount, verso
“N^o.36 A View of Denbigh Castle North Wales / Drawn on the spot by / Francis Towne”

Object Type: Watercolour

Collection

(79/1951)

Catalogue Number: FT098

Description Sources: Examination; Marble Hill catalogue (image)

Provenance

Bequeathed by the artist in 1816 to James White of Exeter (1744–1825), on whose death it passed to Towne’s residuary legatee John Herman Merivale (1779–1844) and his successors. Merivale’s granddaughters Maria Sophia Merivale (1853–1928) and Judith Ann Merivale (1860–1945), both of Oxford, inherited the drawing in May 1915 (BP118) and by 1932 it had been given or sold to their cousin Reginald Merivale (1852–1937). By 1951 it was owned by Colonel Ransom Pickard (1867–1953), who presented it that year to the current owner, the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter (Inv. 79/1951).

Associated People & Organisations: Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter, 1951, 79/1951; Colonel Ransom Pickard (1867 - 1953), 1951; Reginald Merivale (1852 - 1937), 1932; Judith Ann Merivale (1860 - 1945), Oxford, May 1915, BP118; Maria Sophia Merivale (1853 - 1928), Oxford, May 1915, BP118; John Herman Merivale (1779 - 1844), 1825; James White (1744 - 1825), Exeter, 1816

Exhibition History: Exhibition of Original Drawings at the Gallery, No.20 Lower Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, 20 Lower Brook Street, 1805, no. 31 as 'Denbigh Castle'; Loan Exhibition of Works by Early Devon Painters Born Before the Year 1800, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 1932, no. 112; Three Exeter Artists of the Eighteenth Century: Francis Hayman RA, Francis Towne, John White Abbott, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 1951, no. 78a; Treasures of the Exeter Museums: Centenary Exhibition, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 1969, no. 128; Paintings and Drawings by Francis Towne and John White Abbott in the collection of Exeter Museums and Art Gallery, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 1971, no. 4; Early Devon Painters: Forty Years On, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 1972, no. 53; Francis Towne & John White Abbott: Paintings and Watercolours from the Exeter Museums and Art Gallery, Marble Hill House, 1973, no. 4

Bibliography: Jane C. Baker, Catalogue of Oil Paintings, Watercolours, Drawings and Sculpture, Exeter Museums: Exeter, 1978, p. 119; Adrian Bury, Francis Towne - Lone Star of Water-Colour Painting, Charles Skilton: London, 1962, p. 133; Paul Oppé, 'Francis Towne, Landscape Painter', The Walpole Society: London, 1920, p. 107; Timothy Wilcox, Francis Towne, Tate Publishing: London, 1997, p. 48; Henry Penruddocke Wyndham, A Tour Through Monmouthshire and Wales Made in the Months of June and July 1774 and in the months of June, July and August 1777: Salisbury, 1781, p. 162

Comment

Denbigh is a town about halfway between Conwy and Chester.

The town of Denbigh, which is large, populous and decently built, extends itself along the declivity of a lofty hill, on the highest point of which are the ruins of a strong castle, founded by Henry Lacy, earl of Lincoln, in the time of Edward I. The principal gateway is a large and beautiful Gothic arch, over which, the statue of the founder is represented in a niche, sitting in his robes.¹

Towne has depicted this arch with its niche, which was evidently the main point of interest for visitors, as there are two other examples, from the 1770s by Moses Griffith and of 1791 by Joseph Farington.²

**Figure 1.**
Joseph Farington, *Denbigh Castle*, 1791, watercolour

Digital image courtesy of Bolton Library and Museum Service, 1959.1

by Richard Stephens

Footnotes

1 Wyndham 1781, p.162.
2 Moses Griffith, Denbigh Castle, 1770s (National Library of Wales), and Joseph Farington, Denbigh Castle, 1791 (Garlick 1977).

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Provenance

Comment

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