Joseph Mallord William Turner

Tantallon Castle and the Bass Rock

1818

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Scotch Antiquities Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 112 × 186 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D13589
Turner Bequest CLXVII 3

Catalogue entry

Both Tantallon Castle and Bass Rock were subjects commissioned by Walter Scott and his publisher Robert Cadell to illustrate the Provincial Antiquities publication (see 1818 Tour Introduction), and here they are shown together in a single view. The sketch therefore indicates the proximity of the castle and island, and gives an idea of their relative scale. Turner made several further sketches of the two subjects together in this sketchbook (folios 4 verso, 5 verso–6 and 8; D13591, D13593–D13594, D13597; CLXVII 4a, 5a, 6, 8), as well as exploring both from different points of view in dozens of sketches in all three Scottish sketchbooks of 1818.
Verso:
Blank

Thomas Ardill
February 2008

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