This shows a ‘gin’, a traditional rotating winch pulled by donkeys or horses to lift material up a mine shaft to a pithead. By the time Turner painted this, gins were being superseded by steam-driven winding gear.While the landscape is by Turner, the donkeys are the work of Sawrey Gilpin. Gilpin was an animal painter who often collaborated with other artists. He supported Turner’s first attempt to be elected as Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1798. This watercolour must have been intended for exhibition, but it was left unfinished.
Gallery label, October 2022
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