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

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

Joseph Mallord William Turner Smailholm Tower 1831

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Smailholm Tower’ 1831
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 84 Recto:
Smailholm Tower 1831
D26080
Turner Bequest CCLXVII 86
Pencil on off-white wove writing paper, 113 x 185 mm
Inscribed in blue ink by John Ruskin ‘86’ bottom left inverted and ‘271’ top left inverted
Stamped in black ‘CCLXVII – 86’ top left inverted
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Drawn with the sketchbook inverted, this view of Smailholm Tower has a similar appearance to the drawing opposite it on folio 83 verso (D26079; CCLXVII 85a). Both are views from the east, although this sketch was made from a little closer to the tower and from a little further to the south near the millpond, the edge of which can be seen in the foreground. There is a similar viewpoint on folio 83 (D26078; CCLXVII 85).
For more information on Turner’s visit to and sketches of Smailholm, see folio 82 verso (D26077; CCLXVII 84a).

Thomas Ardill
September 2009

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Smailholm Tower 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-smailholm-tower-r1134448, accessed 26 April 2024.