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

This is one of a number of similar view of Borthwick Castle from the north-west that Turner made in preparation for his illustration of the subject for Scott’s Provincial Antiquities (see folio 28; D13503). In this version the castle is very roughly depicted, although Turner has taken care to indicate its twin-towered western façade. As with several other sketches, though not the final watercolour – Borthwick Castle, 1818 (watercolour, Indianapolis Museum of Art) –1 the castle is here framed by trees on both sides with the River Gore in the foreground. Turner may have reached Borthwick via Dalkeith which is depicted on the previous page.