J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > East Sussex c.1806-20 > Herstmonceux and Pevensey Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Interior of a Medieval Building c.1806-10

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Interior of a Medieval Building’ c.1806-10
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 78 Recto:
Interior of a Medieval Building circa 1806–10
D05695
Turner Bequest XCI 78
Pencil and white chalk on cream wove paper, prepared with a buff wash, 128 x 201 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘78’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘XCI 78’ bottom left, descending vertically
Blind-stamped with the Turner Bequest monogram, bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This and other interiors drawn on folios 79–81 of the sketchbook (D05696–D05698) have been generally thought to be at Bodiam Castle (see notes to folio 67, D05694 for drawings in this book). The present drawing might represent the ground floor of the gatehouse, but the identification does not seem certain. Turner’s drawings show figures and utensils, suggesting a working kitchen, but Bodiam was ruined and unoccupied at this period, with its stonework overgrown. See notes to folio 81 for an alternative suggestion of the Monk’s House, Robertsbridge Abbey.
The leaf has been torn and repaired at upper left.
Stained
Verso:
Blank

David Blayney Brown
March 2011

How to cite

David Blayney Brown, ‘Interior of a Medieval Building c.1806–10 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, March 2011, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-interior-of-a-medieval-building-r1131006, accessed 18 September 2024.