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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Scotland 1801-10 > Helmsley Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Cow Lying Down 1801

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Cow Lying Down’ 1801
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 39 Recto:
A Cow Lying Down 1801
D02527
Turner Bequest LIII 39
Pencil on white wove paper, 112 x 162 mm
Partial watermark ‘94 | atman’
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Melford Castle’ top right
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘39’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘LIII – 39’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Turner’s inscription presumably refers to Milford Castle, which is the subject of the drawing on the facing page, folio 38 verso (D02526).
The drawing here, made with the page turned horizontally, is the only study of a single animal in the sketchbook. Two drawings include cattle grazing or watering (folios 33 recto and 35 recto; D02516, D02519), and see also the drawings of groups of figures and animals on folios 93 verso, 95 verso and 96 verso (D02601, D02605, D02607). A book of this time devoted to cattle is known as the Cows sketchbook (Tate; Turner Bequest LXII).

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘A Cow Lying Down 1801 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 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-cow-lying-down-r1178549, accessed 21 September 2024.