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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > West Country 1811 > Somerset and North Devon Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Corfe Castle 1811

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Corfe Castle’ 1811
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Corfe Castle 1811
D08954
Turner Bequest CXXVI 8
Pencil on white wove paper, 200 x 324 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[?Grass]’ bottom right
Inscribed in pencil by ?C.F. Bell ‘[?3.]’ bottom right
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom left
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The viewpoint is near Challow Farm on Sandy Hill Lane, on the southern flank of East Hill, looking west to Corfe Castle village and the ruined fortress. Consecutive views in the contemporary Corfe to Dartmouth sketchbook (Tate D08812, D08813; Turner Bequest CXXIV 5, 6) show the castle from nearby; for other Corfe views see under Tate D08826 (Turner Bequest CXXIV 17).
Turner may have used this page to supplement the Corfe to Dartmouth book on account of its comparatively large size. All the other views in the present sketchbook are of North Devon and Somerset, as indicated by its title (see the introduction). The stray Dorset subject seems to have defeated Finberg, who correctly identified the comparable studies in the Corfe to Dartmouth book.
Technical notes:
Finberg numbered this drawing without his customary ‘a’ suffix to indicate a verso, although the drawing is on the verso of the sheet when the stitch holes on the right are taken into account (they appear to the left of the other drawings once bound together to form this sketchbook). The stamped inventory number thus appears on the other side of the sheet.
Verso:
Blank, save for stamp in black ‘CXXVI 8’ bottom right

Matthew Imms
January 2011

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Corfe Castle 1811 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, January 2011, 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-corfe-castle-r1137550, accessed 24 April 2024.