Joseph Mallord William Turner

This drawing is one of three (including Tate D40073, D40074; Turner Bequest CLIV Xb, Xc) on the front and back of a single sheet of paper, folded in half. In the Inventory Finberg listed each as a separate item, and each individual component drawing has been stamped with its own Turner Bequest number; consequently, each also has its own Tate accession number and is treated separately in this catalogue. For clarity, the present drawing is the left-hand drawing of the recto and D40073 (CLIV Xb) is the right half. D40074 (CLIV Xc) forms the verso.

The present sketch records the view from the right bank of the River Washburn immediately downstream of Lindley Bridge, looking north over the bridge to Lindley Hall on the brow of the hill, above. The sketch served as the basis of a finished watercolour of Lindley Bridge and Hall (private collection)1 painted about 1824 for Walter Fawkes. The lower part of the sheet has been used for colour trials, presumably for that work.

Turner sketched a similar view, but from a more distant viewpoint, in about 1808 (Tate D12121; Turner Bequest CLIV W). He also sketched exactly the same material as the present sketch in the so-called ‘Munro’ sketchbook 2 which he used at Farnley Hall on his last visit in 1824 and subsequently gave to his friend H.A.J. Munro of Novar. The two compositions are disconcertingly alike, and occupy the top part of their respective sheets in a similar way. Close comparison, however, proves that they are independent studies, the Munro sketchbook version being taken from a viewpoint very slightly further right and further away, and including a horse and cart approaching the bridge at the left. The Fawkes watercolour adheres to the exact position of the Munro sketchbook drawing, though the watercolour splashes indicate that both were referred to in the process of painting. The Munro sketchbook drawing can confidently be dated to 1824, and the watercolour accordingly, and the dated watermark of this sheet suggests that the two drawings might have been made on the same visit to Farnley Hall.