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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Scotland 1831 > Rokeby and Appleby Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Inscriptions; A Castle 1831

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Inscriptions; A Castle’ 1831
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 1 Recto:
Inscriptions; A Castle 1831
D25524
Turner Bequest CCLXIV 1
Pencil on white wove paper, 94 x 74 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner across the page ‘Parlour hut 3 | Happ[...] 2 | D R 3 | B R 4 BBB 2 | Sl[...] [...] 3 | 7 Kings [or keys]’
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘1’ bottom left descending
Stamped in black ‘CCLXIV – 1’ bottom left descending
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The meaning of the inscriptions on this page has not been deciphered, but they do not make any obvious reference to the 1831 tour of Scotland or any of the subjects visited on it.
Beneath the inscriptions is a sketch of a castle which bears a resemblance to the sketch of Carlisle Castle on the inside back cover of this sketchbook (D41067).

Thomas Ardill
September 2009

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Inscriptions; A Castle 1831 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2009, 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-inscriptions-a-castle-r1133883, accessed 25 April 2024.