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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > George IV’s visit to Edinburgh 1822 > King's Visit to Edinburgh Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Sketches of Edinburgh Castle from Near Leith; Edinburgh from the Water of Leith; and two Vessles 1822

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Sketches of Edinburgh Castle from Near Leith; Edinburgh from the Water of Leith; and two Vessles’ 1822
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 77 Verso:
Sketches of Edinburgh Castle from Near Leith; Edinburgh from the Water of Leith; and two Vessles 1822
D17643
Turner Bequest CC 77a
Pencil on white wove paper, 187 x 114 mm
Blindstamped with the Turner Bequest stamp bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the sketchbook turned to the right are two views of Edinburgh from near Leith in the north. The top sketch looks towards Edinburgh Castle with St Cuthbert’s on the left and the dome of St George’s at the right. Beneath is a view of Edinburgh from the Water of Leith. This is a favourite view of Turner’s; one that he drew several times in this sketchbook (Inside front cover, 9 verso, 37 verso–38, 76 verso; D17525, D17567–D17568, D17641).
In the second sketch we stand on the banks of the Water of Leith and look through the trees at the left to Arthur’s Seat with Nelson’s Monument on Calton Hill to its right. The castle is very faintly indicated in the centre of the image with the dome of St George’s at the right.
With the sketchbook turned to the left are two studies of boats, one at anchor and one fully rigged at sail, with a flag flying from its main mast. An inscription next to the boat reads something like ‘Marchby’.
There is some light foxing across the centre of the page.

Thomas Ardill
September 2008

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Sketches of Edinburgh Castle from Near Leith; Edinburgh from the Water of Leith; and two Vessles 1822 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2008, 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-sketches-of-edinburgh-castle-from-near-leith-edinburgh-from-r1132984, accessed 27 April 2024.