Joseph Mallord William Turner

A Castle, Perhaps Penrith; a Cumbrian Church and a View of Walton, Cumbria

1831

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment

Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of: Rokeby and Appleby Sketchbook
Medium: Graphite on paper
Dimensions: Support: 74 × 94 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D25604
Turner Bequest CCLXIV 41 a

Catalogue entry

With the sketchbook turned to the right are two or three sketches. At the top of the page is a rough sketch of a castle. Considering its position on the page – at the outer edge – it is possible that it is a sketch of Penrith Castle made during the same session as the sketch on folio 34 verso (D25590), Turner having flipped over several pages of the book while holding it in the same position looking for some blank space.

Below this is a rough depiction of a church, of the kind often found in Cumbria with a small bell tower rather than a high tower or steeple.

At the bottom of the page is a sketch of a view along a narrow river or stream with a building at the left and a hill in the distance. The view matches exactly the sketch on folio 42 (D25605) which is inscribed ‘Wallton’, and so identified as Walton, near Brampton in Cumbria.

Thomas Ardill
September 2009

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