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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Interior of Smailholm Tower, Scottish Borders 1831

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 90 Recto:
The Interior of Smailholm Tower, Scottish Borders 1831
D26092
Turner Bequest CCLXVII 92
Pencil on off-white wove writing paper, 113 x 185 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ‘4’ in the top right window beneath the arch of the gable
Inscribed in blue ink ‘271’ bottom right
Inscribed in red ink ‘(92’ top right
Stamped in black ‘CCLXVII – 92’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The interior of Smailholm tower is recognisable from several features that match the appearance of the tower today despite subsequent rebuilding that has restored the missing floors. The arched stone ceiling on the third floor, the shape of the window arches and position of the windows, and the position of the holes for the floor joists all match the building as it stands today. The remains of the third floor of the tower must have been at least partially accessible to Turner, as this is where the view was taken from. A diagonal line at the bottom left of the sketch suggests a parapet or banister from behind which the artist must have stood on.
There is another sketch of the castle to the left of this sketch. Probably made with the sketchbook inverted, it shows some of the tower’s windows, perhaps on the eastern side. Turner drew another sketch of the tower’s interior on folio 82 (D26076; CCLXVII 84).
For more information on Turner’s visit to and sketches of Smailholm, see folio 82 verso (D26077; CCLXVII 84a).
According to Finberg ‘this page was unnumbered’ when he examined it, suggesting that ‘it is probably now in its wrong place.’1 The red ink inscription of the folio number ‘92’ must therefore have been written by Finberg or by someone after he examined the book, rather than Ruskin, who inscribed page numbers on the other pages of the book in blue ink.

Thomas Ardill
September 2009

1
Finberg 1909, II, p.860.

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘The Interior of Smailholm Tower, Scottish Borders 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-the-interior-of-smailholm-tower-scottish-borders-r1134460, accessed 19 September 2024.