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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Scotland 1834 > Stirling and Edinburgh Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Sketches at Leith Harbour 1834

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Sketches at Leith Harbour’ 1834
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 41 Recto:
Sketches at Leith Harbour 1834
D26337
Turner Bequest CCLXIX 41
Pencil on off-white wove paper, 190 x 113 mm
Inscribed in blue ink by John Ruskin ‘41’ top left running vertically and ‘340’ top right running vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCLXIX 41’ top right running vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Turner returned from his 1834 tour of Scotland around 5 October by sea, taking a boat from Leith Harbour. The sketches on this page were made at Leith and therefore begin the documentation of his journey home. There are further sketches of Leith in the Edinburgh sketchbook (Tate D26254; Turner Bequest CCLXVIII 85), which also contains, scattered through it, various views of the east coast of England made on this journey.
The first sketch at the top of the page is depicts Leith’s Signal Tower as seen from the east with the masts of boats to the right. Beneath it is a sketch of a small structure that may be the Martello Tower at Leith Harbour with the Firth of Forth beyond. Turner had sketched both of these structures in 1822: Tate D17598 (Turner Bequest CC 53 verso). The third sketch down depicts the island of Inchkeith in the Forth near Leith.
The other sketches on the page depict the view to the south of Leith. At the centre of the page is the profile of Arthur’s Seat with Calton Hill and the tower of Nelson’s Monument to the right. Beneath is another sketch of Calton Hill with Edinburgh Castle to the right.
Verso:
Blank

Thomas Ardill
February 2011

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Sketches at Leith Harbour 1834 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, February 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-sketches-at-leith-harbour-r1136267, accessed 18 September 2024.