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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Scotland 1831 > Berwick Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Church Tower on a Quayside 1831

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Church Tower on a Quayside’ 1831
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 25 Verso:
Church Tower on a Quayside 1831
D25687
Turner Bequest CCLXV 25a
Pencil on white wove paper, 96 x 59 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ‘6’ top centre
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the sketchbook turned to the right is a drawing of a quayside with a gothic church tower. Boats in the quay can be seen to the left and at the top left of the page is a separate sketch of a boat at sail. The tiny sketch of bridge arches, inscribed ‘6’ (to remind the artist of the total number of arches), is another clue to the location of this sketch, though the church remains unidentified. The sketches of shipping across folios 17 verso–18 (D25671–D25672) may include this same church tower. There are further sketches of church towers on folios 34 (D25704) and 53 verso (D25738).

Thomas Ardill
May 2010

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Church Tower on a Quayside 1831 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2010, 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-church-tower-on-a-quayside-r1134051, accessed 26 April 2024.