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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Erotica and Improvisations c.1834-6 > Fishing at the Weir Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Studies of a Harbour with Cliffs and a Tower Beyond c.1834-6

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Studies of a Harbour with Cliffs and a Tower Beyond’ c.1834-6
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 31 Recto:
Studies of a Harbour with Cliffs and a Tower Beyond c.1834–6
D27782
Turner Bequest CCLXXXI 31
Pencil on white wove paper, 79 x 101 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[?Ch]’ bottom right
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘31’ top left, upside down
Stamped in black ‘CCLXXXI – 31’ top left, upside down
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, at the top and below the middle of the page are two studies of what appear to be buildings round a harbour, both of which extend across folio 30 verso opposite (D27781), where cliffs are seen with an isolated tower above. At the foot of the page there is an even slighter study of what seems to a low coastline with buildings, which is continued briefly opposite. The location is currently unidentified; the bottom sketch seems to be labelled ‘Ch’ towards the right, perhaps to indicate a church.
There are various studies of fishermen, fish markets and coastal views in the sketchbook, particularly on adjacent pages at this end, as set out in the Introduction.

Matthew Imms
April 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Studies of a Harbour with Cliffs and a Tower Beyond c.1834–6 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2014, 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-studies-of-a-harbour-with-cliffs-and-a-tower-beyond-r1149142, accessed 23 April 2024.