J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Bristol and Malmesbury 1791 > Bristol and Malmesbury Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Church Spire and a Gabled Building 1791

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Church Spire and a Gabled Building’ 1791
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 21 Verso:
A Church Spire and a Gabled Building 1791
D00104
Turner Bequest VI 21a
Pencil on white wove paper, 222 x 170 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pen and brown ink ‘North West View of Malmesbury Abbey taken from the Meadows | 1791’ towards top and ‘The Abbey not long enough’ bottom centre, ascending vertically
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[?2]’ within the sketch of the spire
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘174’ bottom right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ink with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The sketchbook was turned vertically to make the sketches and the main inscription, referring to the view on the recto (D00103). The spire is presumably that of Malmesbury parish church. See note to folio 19 recto (D00099).
Technical notes:
The leaf has been torn along the right-hand edge and cut down by hand along the others from its original 263 x 185 mm; it is tipped onto a broad stub.

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘A Church Spire and a Gabled Building 1791 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2012, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-church-spire-and-a-gabled-building-r1140155, accessed 26 April 2024.