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

This sketch was made by Turner as he travelled by boat from Aberdeen to Edinburgh on the final leg of his 1831 Scottish tour. It has been identified as depicting Dunnottar Castle, which sits on a rocky headland just to the south of Stonehaven on the east coast of Scotland.1 The view is from the north, with the bay of Castle Haven in the foreground and the castle perched on the cliffs above. At the top of the page is a small sketch that probably depicts part of the castle ruins.

This is the only sketch that can be identified with certainty as having been made while Turner was sailing between Aberdeen and Edinburgh, though the rocky cliffs on 61 verso (D27125) closely resemble the cliffs around the castle, and a sketch on folio 56 (D27119) may have been made at some point during the sea voyage. In this sketchbook there are also a number of rough sketches of shipping and coastlines seen from the water which may have been made during this journey: folios 73a, 74, 86, 104, 110, 121 verso (D27138, D27139, D27152, D27172, D27178, D27190).