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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > North of England 1797-1801 > North of England Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Mouth of the Tweed 1797

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Mouth of the Tweed’ 1797
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 60 Recto:
The Mouth of the Tweed 1797
D00965
Turner Bequest XXXIV 56a
Pencil and watercolour on white wove paper, 210 x 270 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Inscribed in red ink ‘56A’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘XXXIV – 56a’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The subject is drawn with the page turned horizontally. As David Hill notes, this is a continuation of the view of Berwick from the south bank of the Tweed begun on the recto of the preceding leaf, folio 59 recto (D00964, Turner Bequest XXXIV 56). Detailed transcription of buildings gives way here to the expressive rendering of light on water by means of watercolour washes, whose delicacy is still apparent despite the discolouration caused by excessive exposure to light.
The typography of Finberg’s entry implies a further inscription, ‘Berwick-on-Tweed’, which is not now visible.
Technical notes:
The page is discoloured from prolonged exposure.
Verso:
Inscribed by ?Turner in pen and brown ink ‘125’; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.

Andrew Wilton
January 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘The Mouth of the Tweed 1797 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, January 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-mouth-of-the-tweed-r1150121, accessed 19 April 2024.