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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Folkestone and the Medway c.1821-2 > Folkestone Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Cliffs on Coast; Possibly Between Dover and Folkestone c.1821-2

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Cliffs on Coast; Possibly Between Dover and Folkestone’ c.1821-2
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 34 Recto:
Cliffs on Coast; Possibly Between Dover and Folkestone c.1821–2
D17264
Turner Bequest CXCVIII 34
Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 187 mm
Partial watermark ‘T Ed | 1’
Stamped in black ‘CXCVIII – 34’ top left, upside down
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Made with the page inverted relative to the foliation of the sketchbook, the drawing here describes coastal cliffs. It was identified by Finberg as part of a succession of similar prospects in this portion of the sketchbook.1 Harsh marks zigzag down the faces of the rocks in places to indicate the sharp topography, and elsewhere loose hatching denotes broad, flat slices of smoother stone.
The location of these cliffs is somewhat unclear, although the drawings which precede and follow this one suggest that Turner was in the process of making studies of the Kent coast between Folkestone and South Foreland to the north east of Dover. See folios 32 recto to 36 recto (D17261–D17263, D17265–D17268). This drawing might record Turner’s observations as he looked towards the latter chalk headland.
1
Finberg 1909, I, p.605.
Technical notes:
A small tear made into the bottom edge of this page, towards the left, has since been mended with a glue substance applied to the reverse of this sheet, on folio 34 verso (D17265).

Maud Whatley
January 2016

How to cite

Maud Whatley, ‘Cliffs on Coast; Possibly Between Dover and Folkestone c.1821–2 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, January 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, February 2017, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-cliffs-on-coast-possibly-between-dover-and-folkestone-r1184538, accessed 26 April 2024.