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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > West Country 1811 > Devonshire Coast, No.1 Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Fowey and Polruan Blockhouse; St Catherine's Castle and the Coast near Fowey; a Rocky Headland 1811

Image 1 of 2
  • Enhanced image
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Fowey and Polruan Blockhouse; St Catherine's Castle and the Coast near Fowey; a Rocky Headland’ 1811
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 46 Recto:
Fowey and Polruan Blockhouse; St Catherine’s Castle and the Coast near Fowey; a Rocky Headland 1811
D08449
Turner Bequest CXXIII 46
Pencil on white wove writing paper, 75 x 117 mm
Part watermark ‘Sm | 17’
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[?Lamp]’ top centre, and ‘[?Deadman]’ bottom right, upside down
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘46’ bottom right, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CXXIII – 46’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The main view shows Polruan’s blockhouse in the foreground, with St Fimbarrus’s Church, Fowey across the estuary to the north. The inverted drawing along the lower edge shows St Catherine’s Castle and the coast running south-west to Dodman Point across Mevagissey Bay (see also folio 129 recto; D08607; CXXIII 126). These two sketches were possibly made from the same point in the estuary, looking in opposite directions. The view at the top left appears to show a warning lamp set on coastal rocks, perhaps nearby. For other views in and around Fowey see under folio 5 verso (D08371).
Technical notes:
There is some ink offsetting from Turner’s poetry on folio 45 verso opposite (D08448).

Matthew Imms
June 2011

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Fowey and Polruan Blockhouse; St Catherine’s Castle and the Coast near Fowey; a Rocky Headland 1811 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, June 2011, 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-fowey-and-polruan-blockhouse-st-catherines-castle-and-the-r1136926, accessed 24 April 2024.