Joseph Mallord William Turner

Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, this is a version of the upper view on folio 85 verso opposite (D22137; Turner Bequest CCXXXVIII 83a). It shows what seems to be the west end and tower of a Gothic church, seen from the south-west, set on an eminence with houses below, another spire beyond, a low church tower and two tall industrial chimney stacks (one of which is issuing smoke in the version on the opposite page); these last features are what prompt a Midlands identification in the context of the known subjects in this sketchbook. The note, apparently of ‘Reeds’, in the foreground suggests a riverside viewpoint. The fragmentary sketches on folio 88 verso (D22142; CCXXXVIII 86a) appear to show the same town.

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