Joseph Mallord William Turner

Views of the Firth of Forth around Queensferry

1818

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Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of: Edinburgh, 1818, Sketchbook
Medium: Graphite on paper
Dimensions: Support: 90 x 112 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D13540
Turner Bequest CLXVI 46 a

Catalogue entry

On this and the following page (folio 47; D13541) are a series of views of both banks of the Firth of Forth around North and South Queensferry. Across both pages is a panorama looking east with the north bank to the left (present page) and the south bank to the right (folio 47). On the south bank is Port Edgar, also shown on folios 45 verso–46 (D13538–D13539). The inscription may refer to ‘S[outh] [?]Q[ueensferry]’. Between the two is the fortified island of Inchgarvie which Turner had already depicted several times in this sketchbook (see folio 4 verso; D13456). At the top of 47 is a sketch probably showing a detail of these fortifications.

There is a second double-page panorama beneath the first of the banks of the Forth with a small sailing vessel in the foreground, and at the bottom of folio 47 there is another sketch of the river banks inscribed ‘East of Garvie’, presumably showing a view to the east of the island.

At the bottom of 46 verso is a sketch of a harbour with several boats and a pavilion-type monument which is drawn again on folio 47 verso. This second view has been identified by Finberg as ‘On the North Side of the Firth of Forth’, and considering that Inchgarvie can again be seen, the harbour is likely to be North Queensferry as David Wallace-Hadrill suggests.1

Thomas Ardill
January 2008

David Wallace-Hadrill, unpublished notes, [circa 1989–94], Tate catalogue files.

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