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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Scotland 1818-20 > Bass Rock and Edinburgh Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Cliffs of Dunbar; and a Plan of the Town 1818

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Cliffs of Dunbar; and a Plan of the Town’ 1818
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 17 Recto:
Cliffs of Dunbar; and a Plan of the Town 1818
D13353
Turner Bequest CLXV 17
Pencil on white laid paper, 99 x 159 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ‘Long stack’ | ‘plan of Durbar’ centre
Stamped in black ink ‘CLXV 17’ top right running vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
There are two sketches on this page: one of the cliffs near Dunbar looking out to sea at the rocky crags, and a ‘plan of Dunbar’ drawn in the blank space in the centre of the page. At the right of the page is the steep cliff-edge, with the rocky water’s edge at the bottom and the ‘long stacks’ (actually crags) out to sea. Turner has also inscribed ‘w’ above several rocks on the left, presumably meaning ‘west’ as in the inscription on the previous page (folio 16 verso; D13352; CLXV 16a). The ‘plan of Dunbar’ is rather obscure, with an outline of the town and rectangular markings. However, when it is compared with a map of the town, the distinctive hump shape of ‘Long Craigs’ at the top left can be made out.

Thomas Ardill
October 2007

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Cliffs of Dunbar; and a Plan of the Town 1818 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, October 2007, 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-cliffs-of-dunbar-and-a-plan-of-the-town-r1131895, accessed 24 April 2024.