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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > West Country 1811 > Corfe to Dartmouth Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Corfe Castle: The Castle and Village from West Hill 1811

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Corfe Castle: The Castle and Village from West Hill’ 1811
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 2 Recto:
Corfe Castle: The Castle and Village from West Hill 1811
D08809
Turner Bequest CXXIV 2
Pencil on white wove paper, 170 x 209 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom left
Stamped in black ‘CXXIV – 2’ top left, upside down
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Having probably approached along the Wareham road from the north-west (see folio 1 recto; D08807), Turner has here climbed the adjacent West Hill, which rises higher than the castle’s mound. His viewpoint is towards the castle to the east, with the village beyond to the south-east. There is a brief continuation showing the parish church on folio 1 verso opposite (D08808). A view of the castle and village from this side of the castle’s mound itself is on folio 7 recto (D08814); for other drawings of the site, see the entry for folio 17 recto (D08826).
William Daniell’s 1823 aquatint of Corfe Castle from his Voyage Round Great Britain shows the castle from a comparable angle, but from higher on the hill, giving a dramatic bird’s-eye effect (Tate impression: T02979).
Technical notes:
A tear has been repaired on the right-hand edge.
Verso:
Blank

Matthew Imms
February 2011

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Corfe Castle: The Castle and Village from West Hill 1811 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-corfe-castle-the-castle-and-village-from-west-hill-r1137292, accessed 16 April 2024.