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

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

Joseph Mallord William Turner Alloa and Clackmannan Tower from the River Forth; and Dumbarton Rock 1831

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Alloa and Clackmannan Tower from the River Forth; and Dumbarton Rock’ 1831
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 1 Recto:
Alloa and Clackmannan Tower from the River Forth; and Dumbarton Rock 1831
D26619
Turner Bequest CCLXXI 1
Pencil on off-white laid writing paper, 101 x 158 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ‘Clack’ right
Inscribed in red ink by John Ruskin ‘1’ bottom left descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCLXXI – 1’ bottom left descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This sketchbook page was used at two different locations. First, at the bottom right, are sketches made from the boat that conveyed Turner from Queensferry to Stirling along the River Forth. At the very bottom-right corner is a sketch of a tower inscribed ‘Clack’, suggesting that this is ‘Clackmannan Tower’ just outside the town of Clackmannan, as seen on folios 20 verso–22 (D26658–D26661). To the left of this is a sketch of three buildings: a gothic spire, a steeple and another tower. Although the latter looks similar to Clackmannan Tower, it is likely to be Alloa Tower, as the other two structures are recognisable as the gothic spire of St Mungo’s Church and the steeple of Alloa’s Old Kirk. There are further sketches of Alloa on folios 21–22 verso (D26659–D26662).
The other sketches are, according to David Wallace-Hadrill and Janet Carolan, of Dumbarton Rock and Castle. At the top right, drawn with the book turned to the right, is a view of the rock, and at the top left (same orientation) is a sketch of the fortifications, perhaps made from the top of the rock.1

Thomas Ardill
October 2009

1
David Wallace-Hadrill and Janet Carolan, ‘Turner Round the Clyde and in Islay – 1831’, 1991, Tate catalogue files, folio 2.

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Alloa and Clackmannan Tower from the River Forth; and Dumbarton Rock 1831 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, October 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-alloa-and-clackmannan-tower-from-the-river-forth-and-r1135056, accessed 25 April 2024.