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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Wales 1798 > Dynevor Castle Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?Newcastle Emlyn, Cardiganshire: The Ruins of the Castle from the North-East 1798

Image 1 of 2
  • Enhanced image
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?Newcastle Emlyn, Cardiganshire: The Ruins of the Castle from the North-East’ 1798
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 65 Verso:
?Newcastle Emlyn, Cardiganshire: The Ruins of the Castle from the North-East 1798
D01571
Turner Bequest 63a
Pencil on white wove paper, 135 x 95 mm
Inscribed in red ink ‘[...]’ top left, upside down
Stamped in black ‘XL – 63 a’ bottom left
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The subject is continued on folio 66 recto opposite (D01572; Turner Bequest XL 64). Newcastle Emlyn is nine miles south-east of Cardigan, on the road from Carmarthen. Turner will have passed through the town on his way to Cilgerran, which he drew in the contemporary Hereford Court sketchbook (Tate D01279–D01281, D01342, D01354; Turner Bequest XXXVIII 28, 28a, 29, 88, 100).
The castle stands on a knoll around which the river Teifi curls in a loop. Founded by Maredudd ap Rhys in the mid-thirteenth century, it is a rare example of Welsh fortification in stone. The identification of the subject, however, is not secure, and there are considerable differences between Turner’s drawing and the castle itself as it is today. There appears to have been much dilapidation of some of the walls since he drew the ruin.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘?Newcastle Emlyn, Cardiganshire: The Ruins of the Castle from the North-East 1798 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-newcastle-emlyn-cardiganshire-the-ruins-of-the-castle-from-r1173810, accessed 23 September 2024.