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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner A River Winding among Hills, Probably in County Durham or Northumberland 1817

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 3 Recto:
A River Winding among Hills, Probably in County Durham or Northumberland 1817
D12312
Turner Bequest CLVI 30
Pencil on white wove paper, 232 x 328 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘557A’ bottom left
Inscribed in pencil ‘30’ top left, upside down
Stamped in black ‘CLVI 30’ top left, upside down
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The viewpoint is a crag high above a river valley, with what seems to be an overshot mill in the distance. Small, dark marks towards the right appear to indicate cattle or other animals beside the river. The scene remains unidentified but is presumably in County Durham or Northumberland, recorded elsewhere in this sketchbook, or possibly on the way to or near Farnley Hall, Walter Fawkes’s home in North Yorkshire, where Turner came to rest at the end of his travels (see the introduction to the tour). The drawing on folios 15 recto–14 verso (D40764, D12311; Turner Bequest CLVI 20 ‘verso’–29) shows similar country and was perhaps made nearby.
The pencil number ‘30’ may obscure or reinforce John Ruskin’s customary red ink foliation, which is evident only faintly and intermittently in this much-rearranged book (see the introduction to the sketchbook).
Technical notes:
There is a trace of watercolour along the top of the left-hand edge, presumably an accidental transfer from the corresponding corner of the watercolour sketch on folio 2 recto (D12263), and a small reddish-brown spot near the centre of the top edge, which may have occurred at the same time.

Matthew Imms
February 2010

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A River Winding among Hills, Probably in County Durham or Northumberland 1817 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, February 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-a-river-winding-among-hills-probably-in-county-durham-or-r1139456, accessed 28 March 2024.