Description
Based on a drawing by painter and illustrator Charles Catton the Younger, Dunbarton Rock depicts a view of Scotland’s Dumbarton Castle and its surrounding geography from the banks of the River Clyde. The castle rock, formed some 340 million years ago, derives its name from Alt Clut, or “Rock of the Clyde,” and the later Gaelic name Dun Breatann, or “Fortress of the Britons.” (1) Around 1220, Alexander II of Scotland established and built the first iteration of Dumbarton Castle, but the castle mentioned in William Walker’s engraving referred to a later structure built in the 17th or 18th century. Subsequent sieges and dynasties after Alexander II’s original castle meant the structure of Dumbarton Castle, which took advantage of the strategic geological formations of Dumbarton Rock, has been rebuilt many times over the centuries. There are no longer visible markers distinguishing the original castle or its immediate replacements, but the site remains notable for its history and topography.
This particular engraving most likely belongs to The Copper-Plate Magazine, or Monthly Cabinet of Picturesque Prints, consisting of Sublime and Interesting Views in Great Britain and Ireland or The Itinerant: a select collection of interesting and picturesque views, in Great Britain and Ireland, two series published by Harrison and Co. throughout the 1790s. (2) Collaborations between multiple different engravers and printers, many of the “views” in The Copper-Plate Magazine and The Itinerant were engraved from pre-existing paintings and travel literature, including this engraving by William R.J. Walker. Collections of foreign vistas and accompanying letterpress travel text were common collectible items, published over the course of years and delivered through subscription models. Additional copies of both series including Dunbarton Rock can be found in the collections of the Yale Center for British Art, the British Museum, Harvard Art Museums, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields.
Engraver William Walker’s Dunbarton Rock reproduces a painting by Charles Catton the Younger, an English-born painter and illustrator known for his landscapes and animal paintings inspired by his travels through England and Scotland. In 1804, Catton immigrated to the United States, where he ceased painting and is recorded to have owned enslaved labor, including the partner of abolitionist Sojourner Truth. (3)
- Hannah Chew, Humanities Fellow, 2023-24
NOTES:
(1) Historic Environment Scotland, “Dunbarton Castle.”
(2) British Museum, “Harrison & Co”; Yale Center for British Art, “The Itinerant”; Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, “The Copper-Plate Magazine.”
(3) Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1887). "Catton, Charles (1756-1819)," Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 9. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 325; Sojourner Truth, Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Bondswoman of Olden Time, Emancipated by the New York Legislature in the Early Part of the Present Century. United States: Review and Herald Office, 1875.
Acquisition History
Method and date of acquisition unknown.
Collection of Mildred Barnes and Robert Woods Bliss, Washington, D.C., until 1969;
Bequest of Mildred Barnes Bliss (1879-1969), January 17, 1969;
Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, House Collection, Washington, D.C.
_D2024.image01.jpg)