- Museum number
- 1960,0716.5
- Description
-
Melville Castle; seen from between two groups of trees from the driveway
Pen and black ink with watercolour
- Production date
- 1728-1812
- Dimensions
-
Height: 105 millimetres
-
Width: 166 millimetres
- Curator's comments
- K Sloan, Noble Art 2000
John Clerk of Eldin was the son of William Stukeley's old friend Sir John Clerk of Penicuik (1676-1755), a keen recorder of Roman antiquities and inscriptions. Another of Stukeley's friends, Andrew Jelf (architect/mason) was sent by the Board of Ordnance to Scotland just before 1720 to 'repair and make some Forts' near the Antonine Wall, where on Stukeley's behalf he made measured drawings of 'Arthur's O'on' [oven] which had been known as an 'ancient' building since 9th century. It was circular, stone-built and had a relief carving over the door and Stukeley believed it was a Roman temple or shrine. It was pulled down by Sir Michael Bruce of Stenhouse in 1743 to repair a mill-dam, on which occasion Stukeley produced an etching of Syr Mitchil Bruce stonekiller. As records like Jelf's drawings were the only evidence of such monuments, it is not surprising to find Sir John recommending 'to all the young lads of this family to lairn to draw or design as the best means for advancing their fortune' (Bertram, p.6).
Instead of becoming a surgeon as his father had hoped, the younger John Clerk went into business and purchased land at Eldin where he erected a small mansion. In the 1750s, he befriended the Adam family of architects and married Robert Adam's younger sister. The architect was fond of drawing imaginary landscape compositions which were remarkably close to Clerk's of the early 1750s and it seems that this probably resulted from them both taking lessons from Paul Sandby during his time in the Ordnance Office in Edinburgh 1747-52, although there is no secure evidence for this. Paul Sandby's son produced a memoir of his father in 1811 in which he recorded that while he was in Edinburgh he took instruction in etching from Mr Bell, an interest he later shared with Clerk who began to etch in 1770. Clerk owned at least thirty watercolours by Sandby by 1763, and two letters from Sandby of 1775 (V&A), indicate at that time Clerk was experimenting with etching with aquatint, and they exchanged examples of work in this medium, for which Sandby had a superior method, which he could not share (see cat. 141). Nevertheless, in the second letter he provided as much detailed instruction for improving the effect as he could, without giving away the entire secret.
Clerk was largely self-taught in etching, seemingly taking it up at the encouragement of fellow antiquarians who admired his drawings and watercolours. He looked carefully at works by Rembrandt, Claude and Weirotter first and did his own printing on a small press, selling them through an Edinburgh printseller to cover his costs. He was often frustrated with the results and especially with the small size of his plates, partly due to the enforced use of spectacles. Most of his watercolours were larger, but the present work is about the size of the etching to which it relates (Lumsden 73, Melville Castle from Eldin, 4 1/8 x 6 3/8 inches; lettered 'Melville Castle, seat belonging to Lord Advocate Dundas' and 'J.C. 1776'). His etchings are mainly views of castles and ruins and local sites, antiquarian in nature, although he took liberties with topography in order to achieve a better overall effect of composition, as in the present small watercolour. He printed over a hundred, but stopped around 1778, presenting a fine set of 62, washed by Robert Adam, to George III (BL) in 1786. The prints were re-issued in 1825 and 1855 before they were destroyed. A curious final note about Clerk should be mentioned as it is relevant to the subject of this chapter: in 1782 he published privately his contribution to the war effort with France that he had been working on through the 1770s: An Essay on Naval Tactics - Systematical and Historical with explanatory plates (re-published 1790). In the 1780s he worked closely with Dr James Hutton on his Theory of the Earth, and later produced geological drawings for the plates which were never engraved.
Literature: E.S. Lumsden, 'The Etchings of John Clerk of Eldin', Print Collectors' Quarterly, XII, 1925, pp. 14-39; Martin Hardie, 'Letters from Paul Sandby to John Clerk of Eldin', ditto, XX, 1933, pp. 362-4; Geoffrey Bertram, John Clerk of Eldin: Etchings and Drawings, exh. 6 North West Circus Place, Edinburgh, 1978; Brown, pp. 5-9, 30-3; Piggott, pp. 59-60; A.A. Tait, 'Robert Adm and John Clerk of Eldin', Master Drawings, XVI, no. 1, 1978, pp. 53-7.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
1962 Nov, BM, Iolo Williams Bequest, no.72
2000 May-Sep, BM P&D, 'A Noble Art', no.94
- Acquisition date
- 1960
- Acquisition notes
- This item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45. The British Museum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1960,0716.5