Joseph Mallord William Turner

This is a continuation of the drawing on folio 115 verso opposite (D03135; Turner Bequest LVI 113). A possible identification of the subject is the River Tay above Dunkeld and Craigie Barns, a rock face that rises sheer out of woods above the river to the west of the town. The sketch on the verso (D03137; Turner Bequest LVI 114a), is inscribed ‘Dunkeld’, which would tend to support that identification; it is apparently the extension of a drawing on another opening, ostensibly folios 117 verso–118 recto (D03139–D03140; Turner Bequest LVI 115a–116), also inscribed ‘Dunkeld’.

However, those two sketches do not link up very convincingly, and the annotation may refer to the double-page view of Dunkeld which appears several pages later, on folios 127 verso–128 recto (D03159–D03160; Turner Bequest LVI 125a–126), with which a link is more plausible. Furthermore, the inscription on the present drawing places the location further north, on the Garry rather than the Tay. Turner used the study as the basis for a ‘Scottish Pencil’ composition, Tate D03408 (Turner Bequest LVIII 29).