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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Farnley Hall and Yorkshire c.1808-24 > Scarborough 2 Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Distant View of Scarborough Castle from the South c.1816-18

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Distant View of Scarborough Castle from the South’ c.1816-18
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 5 Recto:
A Distant View of Scarborough Castle from the South c.1816–18
D11956
Turner Bequest CLI 5
Pencil on white wove paper, 116 x 182 mm
Watermarked ‘R BA[RNARD] | 1[812]’
Inscribed by ?John Ruskin in red ink ‘169 Invent’ along bottom edge, left
Inscribed by an unknown hand in red ink ‘5’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in brown ‘CLI 5’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This sketch records the view of Scarborough Castle as seen from the south over a headland, possibly from as far as Osgodby Point. Turner, however, has very much shortened the castle headland, making it hard to work out the exact orientation. A building, possibly a boathouse, is visible in the lower foreground right.
A small piece is missing from the outer edge of this leaf. The inscribed number ‘169’ is the number given to the sketchbook in the original schedule of the Turner Bequest. This notation and the folio number must have been noted when the page was removed from the sketchbook, probably with some early exhibition in mind. In the event, the drawing does not appear to have been shown. The leaf has been restored to its correct position.

David Hill
September 2008

How to cite

David Hill, ‘A Distant View of Scarborough Castle from the South c.1816–18 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, September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-distant-view-of-scarborough-castle-from-the-south-r1146979, accessed 27 April 2024.