1–12. Chusovaya River, Urals. 1847, 12 watercolours, all 21.5 x 29.8 cm, cat. nos 11174–85, inscribed ‘Tchoussovaia’ followed by a number between 1 and 26, thus denoting a possible 14 others of the series. Presented by the artist to Nicholas I. Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg.
13. Kolyvan Lake in the Altai Mountains, Western Siberia. 1847, s. & d., 33.5 x 51 cm. Long inscription on original mount detailing scene. Sale, Christie’s 12 Dec. 1972; sale, Sotheby’s 20 Feb. 1985. Exh. Barnsley, Yorks, 2015 (see page 300). Private collection, England.
14. Altin-Kool [Lake Teletskoye] in the Altai Mountains, Western Siberia. 1848, s. & d., 40.5 x 59 cm. Long inscription on original mount detailing scene. Sale, Christie’s 12 Dec. 1972; sale, Sotheby’s 20 Feb. 1985. Exh. Barnsley, Yorks, 2015 (see page 300). Private collection, England.
15. A View on the Altin-Kool [Lake Teletskoye]. 1849, TWA monogram and d. 29 July 1849. Inscribed ‘To Mr Basnin [mayor of Irkutsk] As a remembrance from T.W. Atkinson 10th March 1850’. Pushkin Museum, Moscow.
16. A Night Scene at our Encampment on the Altin-Kool [Lake Teletskoye], Altai Mountains. 1849, 61 x 88 cm (size of glass). Christie’s sale 1858, bought Sir R.I. Murchison, donated 1930 by Roderick Murchison, nephew, to Royal Geographical Society, London.
17. Lake Teletskoye, Altai Mountains. 1850, s. & d. bottom right: ‘T.W. Atkinson to M. Wasilievsky. Dec 10th 1850’ (probably from sketch of 1849). Paper laid on canvas, 61.5 x 90.3 cm. P.I. Kuznetsov (merchant and goldmine owner) coll., A.P. Kuznetsova coll., from 1920 Krasnoyarsk Krai Museum of Local Lore, History and Economy, from 1958 Krasnoyarsk V.I. Surikov Art Museum, inv.529 ZHA-161. Exh: Unforgettable Russia, Moscow, 1997 (see page 300), no. 167, illustrated in catalogue with additional notes by A.A. Abisova.
18. The Altai. Mountain landscape, watercolour, gouache, paper on canvas, 59.1 x 88.3 cm. State Russian Museum, St Petersburg, inv. r.21976. Acquired 1935. Exh.: Unforgettable Russia, Moscow, 1997 (see page 300), no. 166, & additional notes as in no.17.
19. The Black Irkout, Oriental Siberia. 1852. Whatman paper, 43 x 58 cm, s.& d. on mount ‘T.W. Atkinson, 1852’. Long inscription on mount in artist’s hand detailing scene. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubnor & Co., 43 Great Russell St, London WC1. Bought by Victoria & Albert Museum for £12 12s, received 25 November 1954. Register no. P5-1954.
20. The Borgon in the Altai. 1853, s. & d. ‘T.W. Atkinson, 1853’. 61.5 x 83 cm (size of glass). Christie’s sale 1858, bought Sir R.I. Murchison, donated 1930 by Roderick Murchison, nephew, to Royal Geographical Society, London.
21. Source of the Terric-Sou, Actou [White] Mountains, Chinese Tartary. Date unknown, 66 x 100 cm (size of glass; the largest of Atkinson’s known watercolours). Christie’s sale 1858, bought Sir R.I. Murchison, donated 1930 by Roderick Murchison, nephew, to Royal Geographical Society, London.
22. River Bea – Altai Mountains, Western Siberia. No date. No size available. Torn in three places. Christie’s sale 1858, bought Sir R.I. Murchison, donated 1930 by Roderick Murchison, nephew, to Royal Geographical Society, London.
Nos 23–33: provenance Christie’s, 9 June 1858, bought Duke of Cleveland; by descent to Lord Barnard; bought by dealer, Christie’s sale, Raby Castle, Yorkshire, 1 April 1997, cat. as ‘English School, Circa 1840. Mountainous Landscapes in China (?)’, the mounts bearing the original lot numbers of Christie’s 1858 sale. Private collections, England.
23. A Natural Arch on Nouk-a-Daban. 41.2 x 58.8 cm, full-page tinted lithograph facing p. 593, O & WS.
24. The River Terric-Sou, Kara-Tou, and Kirghis Steppe. 40.6 x 59 cm, full-page tinted lithograph facing p. 564, O & WS.
25. The River Djem-a-Louk. Watercolour, 48.1 x 65.3 cm, full-page tinted lithograph facing p. 582, O & WS.
26. Bouriat Temple and Lake Ikeougoune, Mongolia (in fact Buryatia). 41.7 x 60 cm, full-page tinted lithograph facing p. 445, O & WS.
27. A Natural Arch on the Baikal. 48.4 x 66.2 cm, text engraving, U & LA, pp. 373 & 386 but note two figures in engraving, not one, and different background.
28. Looking Down on to the Kirghis Steppe. 41.5 x 58.9 cm, text engraving, U & LA, p. 236, but only the rock at right is identical to that in the engraving, the rest quite dissimilar.
29. Tchim-Boulac, Alatou Mountains. 1858, 48.6 x 66.3 cm. Similar but not identical to full-page tinted lithograph, O & WS, p. 570.
30. Kessil-Tas, in the Kirghis Steppe. 41.1 x 59.3 cm, alternatively 48.6 x 65.6 cm, text engraving, O & WS, p. 540.
31. A Waterfall near the Source of the Kopal, Alatou Mountains, Chinese Tartary. Acsou River gorge (?), 48.7 x 66.2 cm.
32. A Waterfall through Mountains, possibly Dzhungarsky Alatau, Kazakhstan. Exh: Barnsley, Yorks, 2015 (see page 300).
33. Zabata-Noor and the Aba-gol Mountains, Mongolia. Size unknown. Christie’s sale 1858, lot 35, sold for £11.11.0.
34. No. 69. A Waterfall near the Source of the Amoor in the Khingan Mountains, T.W. Atkinson 1852. Signed on label attached to reverse, 66.1 x 99.1 cm. Christie’s, lot 89, 29 April 1999, est. £2–3,000; bought in. Bonhams & Brooks, London, 28 March 2001, lot 55, £200; Sotheby’s, 15 November 2001, unsold; Bonhams, London, 24 June 2003, lot 190, unframed; sold for £35 including premium. Perhaps his least satisfactory known work: overcrowded composition and in poor condition.
35. Kara-Noor [Lake], Formed by Lava of the Djem-a-Louk, Saian Mountains, Mongolia (in fact Buryatia). 1852, s. & d. ‘Atkinson/June 1852’ on mount, 40 x 58 cm. Private collection. Christie’s, 9 June 1858, lot 27; Christie, Manson & Woods, 16 June 1862, lot 195; Christie’s, Amsterdam, 16 January 2007, lot 308, sale no. 2732, E1440. Sphinx Fine Art, London. Reproduced inside front cover in Russian scientific journal SCIENCE First Hand, 5 June 2013, with article ‘The Valley of Volcanoes, East Sayan’, pp. 66–7.
36. A View of Zlatoust Looking towards Alexander Sopka and the Urals Beyond. 1854, inscribed on the reverse with title, plus: ‘No. 25 … T W Atkinson 1854.’ Pencil and watercolour, 66 x 99 cm. Christie’s, South Kensington, 1 Dec. 2005. Joint lot 228, one of a pair with no. 37. Est: for the pair £5–7,000. Sold for £12,000.
37. A View of Zlatoust from the River Ay. Pencil and watercolour, heightened with white, on paper, 66 x 99 cm. Christie’s, South Kensington, 1 Dec. 2005. Joint lot 228, one of a pair with no. 36. Est: for the pair £5–7,000. Sold for £12,000.
38. Pencil sketch of unidentified (fanciful?) Russian wooden chapel on loose sheet of yellow paper found in Atkinson journal.
39. Nave of York Cathedral [sic]. Date unknown, 60.3 x 46.4 cm. Dewhirst Bequest, 1903. Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Library, Preston, UK.
40. Athens: Partial View with the Olympeion and the Acropolis in the Background. Date unknown, 37 x 54 cm. Most probably bought by the Museum’s founder, Lambros Eutaxias, unconfirmed. Museum of the City of Athens, cat. no. 33.
41. Athens: Imaginary Greek Landscape. S., date unknown. Museum of the City of Athens, cat. no. 34. 45 x 33 cm. Provenance: as no. 40.
Exh.:
Moscow: Unforgettable Russia. Russians and Russia through the eyes of the British XVII–XIX centuries. State Tretyakov Gallery, 1997.
Barnsley, Yorkshire: The Hidden Artists of Barnsley; Barnsley Art on Your Doorstep, 2015
The above is an expanded version of the author’s article in English and Russian, ‘Lost (and Found): the Russian Watercolours of Thomas Witlam Atkinson, “the Siberian traveller”’, in the catalogue of ‘Unforgettable Russia…’, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow 1997, where two of TWA’s paintings were exhibited.