'?Lord Egremont Fishing in the River Derwent at Cockermouth', Joseph Mallord William Turner

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

?Lord Egremont Fishing in the River Derwent at Cockermouth

From Lowther Sketchbook

Turner Bequest CXIII

Date 1809

MediumGraphite on paper

Dimensionssupport: 83 x 114 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

Reference

D07941

Turner Bequest CXIII 56

View this artwork by appointment, at Tate Britain's Prints and Drawings Rooms

Turner's sketchbooks

View this artwork in the Lowther Sketchbook

Catalogue entry

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851

Folio 56 Recto:

?Lord Egremont Fishing in the River Derwent at Cockermouth 1809

D07941
Turner Bequest CXIII 56

Pencil on white wove paper, 83 x 114 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘56’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CXIII 56’ bottom right
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Lord Egremont’ lower centre, ‘E worms’, ‘Sky white’ and ‘Light’ bottom left, ‘red flag’ within image, centre, and illegibly below a boat lower right of centre

Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

References

For Turner at Cockermouth Castle in 1809 see chiefly notes to the Cockermouth sketchbook (Tate D07537–D07952; D40744–D40745; Turner Bequest CX). This fascinating sketch might be Turner’s first and most personal record of his patron and host, and an indication that Lord Egremont was in residence at the time of Turner’s visit; if so it is a foretaste of Turner’s coloured drawings of life at Petworth in the 1820s. A solitary figure, wrapped in a greatcoat against rain and chill, is seated overlooking the river. He is identified in Turner’s inscription and the bait he is using is also indicated, left. His position corresponds to that of the fishing jetty built out from the ‘Lands’, the best side of the Derwent for fishing, seen in the view from ‘Lord Egremont’s room’ in Cockermouth Castle which Turner drew in his Cockermouth sketchbook (Tate D07562; Turner Bequest CX 22). It is tempting to imagine Turner, himself a keen fisherman, joining Egremont in this favoured spot. The overgrown bank in the background to the left would correspond to the castle mount, below the north curtain wall, while the river running into the right distance would be the Derwent as it approaches its junction with the Cocker.

Verso:

Blank

David Blayney Brown
August 2009

Read this catalogue entry in full

This catalogue entry is part of: David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, December 2012.