Joseph Mallord William Turner

Finberg1 relates this sketch and that on folio 8 recto (D08872; CXXV 7) to the oil painting Hulks on the Tamar, possibly exhibited at Turner’s gallery in 1812 (Tate T03881; displayed at Petworth House, West Sussex).2 However, as Butlin and Joll observe, ‘the connection ... seems most doubtful.’3 The tower in the distance may be Trematon Castle, overlooking the St Germans or Lynher River as it runs into the Hamoaze (the Tamar Estuary) west of Plymouth. There are numerous later studies of it in the later Plymouth, Hamoaze sketchbook (beginning at Tate D09256; Turner Bequest CXXXI 37) and Devon Rivers, No.2 sketchbook (beginning at Tate D09700; Turner Bequest CXXXIII 27a).

This is one of a series of sketches of Plymouth and nearby districts, running from folio 3 recto (D08866; CXXV 2) to folio 14 recto (D08880; CXXV 13); see the entry for the first of these for other Plymouth views.

Technical notes:

There is some brown spotting in the sky.

Verso:

Blank. A tear has been repaired at the bottom right.