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

Turner used this page to sketch views of coastal buildings, perhaps in the Vale, or Clos du Valle, region of Guernsey. The scene featured on the upper half of the page appears to depict the view up Guernsey’s east coast, with Vale Castle on the horizon to the far right. Inverted in relation to the sketchbook as foliated, the vista of seaside buildings and a spire towards the bottom left-hand corner of the page is inscribed ‘[?v]allé’, possibly locating the scene at St Sampson Harbour, the main settlement in that part of Guernsey. The bristling hump of a land-mass cursorily recorded towards the bottom right-hand corner, also inverted in relation to the sketchbook as foliated, may once again represent Vale Castle or perhaps Castle Cornet further south at St Peter Port. For comparisons, see the drawings listed under the entries for folio 29 verso (D23575; Turner Bequest CCLII 29a) for Castle Cornet, and folio 51 verso; (D23616; Turner Bequest CCLII 51a) for St Sampson Harbour.