Caerphilly Castle from the South-West

1798

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment

Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of: Cyfarthfa Sketchbook
Medium: Graphite on paper
Dimensions: Support: 289 x 457 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D01639
Turner Bequest XLI 10 a

Catalogue entry

Other views of Caerphilly in this sketchbook are on D01636, D01637, and probably D01640 (Turner Bequest XLI 8, 9, 11). This drawing shows the whole structure from the outer western defences or ‘hornwork’, which can be seen overgrown and partially destroyed in the foreground. The principal features to be seen are the north-west tower, the outer Western Gatehouse, the postern, and the South-west or ‘Leaning’ Tower.

Finberg numbered this page twice, correcting himself in the course of compiling his 1909 Inventory but leaving a redundant entry for Turner Bequest XLI ‘33’, cross-referenced to XLI 10a.1 When Tate accession numbers were assigned, the spurious entry was designated D01666; that number has since been cancelled.

Finberg 1909, I, p.99.

Technical notes:

The sheet is faded from exposure.

Verso:

Blank; inscribed in a later hand in pencil ‘No 7’ and ‘2’; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

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