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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > George IV’s visit to Edinburgh 1822 > King's Visit to Edinburgh Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Sketches of Leith Harbour; Edinburgh from the North-west; and a Yacht of the Royal Squadron 1822

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Sketches of Leith Harbour; Edinburgh from the North-west; and a Yacht of the Royal Squadron’ 1822
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 76 Verso:
Sketches of Leith Harbour; Edinburgh from the North-west; and a Yacht of the Royal Squadron 1822
D17641
Turner Bequest CC 76a
Pencil on white wove paper, 187 x 114 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ?‘Royal Landing’ [or ‘Royal Journey’ or ‘Royal Sovereign’] bottom right descending vertically
Blindstamped with the Turner Bequest stamp bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This page has been used for three sketches. With the sketchbook in its usual orientation is a slight sketch of a three-masted ship which may be, as Finley suggest, the Royal George (see folio 4; D17514), or perhaps the Royal Sovereign, another yacht in the royal squadron.
With the sketchbook turned to the right are two further sketches. At the top is a sketch of several sheds or warehouses, probably, judging from the vertical lines of masts or flag-poles, at Leith Harbour. Although it does not match exactly, the sketch has very much the same character as sketches of Leith Harbour on folio 66 verso and 71 verso (D17622, D17632).
Beneath this is a view of Edinburgh from the north-west very similar to one on folio 9 verso, which is comparable to a view of Edinburgh from near Dean Cemetery made by Turner during his previous visit to Scotland in 1818 (Tate D13690; Turner Bequest CLXVII 59). The most prominent landmark in the sketch is the dome of St George’s Church (now the West Register House, in Charlotte Square) at the centre of the horizon. The Water of Leith winds its way towards the city in the foreground.

Thomas Ardill
August 2008

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Sketches of Leith Harbour; Edinburgh from the North-west; and a Yacht of the Royal Squadron 1822 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, August 2008, 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-sketches-of-leith-harbour-edinburgh-from-the-north-west-and-r1132982, accessed 24 April 2024.