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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Cheshire, Derbyshire, North Wales ... > Tabley No.2 Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Pont-y-Glyn, near Ty-Nant 1808

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Pont-y-Glyn, near Ty-Nant’ 1808
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 11 Recto:
Pont-y-Glyn, near Ty-Nant 1808
D06871
Turner Bequest CIV 10
Pencil on white laid paper, 98 x 162 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Glin’ lower right of centre
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘10’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CIV 10’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
For Turner’s trip into North Wales from Tabley in 1808, see Introduction to the sketchbook. As suggested by Finberg, Turner’s inscription denotes Pont-y-Glyn (Pont Glyn-Diffwys) across the River Ceirw, which carries a road branching off from the old toll road from Corwen westwards towards the coast via Betws-y-Coed. The bridge spans a gorge, Glyn Diffwys, which was then a celebrated beauty spot and may have prompted Turner to extend his route from Corwen. On folio 14 (D06875; Turner Bequest CIV 13) is another drawing evidently of the bridge, from below in the steep ravine on the Corwen side while others of the zig-zagging toll road, some including the bridge to the side, follow from folio 12 (D06872; Turner Bequest CIV 11). The road, now part of the A5, was later upgraded by Thomas Telford as part of his London-Holyhead route, and today this stretch is by-passed and maintained as a footpath. Turner’s views can no longer be fully appreciated as the gorge is overgrown with trees.
Verso:
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David Blayney Brown
May 2010

How to cite

David Blayney Brown, ‘Pont-y-Glyn, near Ty-Nant 1808 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2010, 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-pont-y-glyn-near-ty-nant-r1133627, accessed 25 April 2024.