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 A West Country Town on a River or Harbour with ?Fortifications 1811

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A West Country Town on a River or Harbour with ?Fortifications’ 1811
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 126 Recto:
A West Country Town on a River or Harbour with ?Fortifications 1811
D08601
Turner Bequest CXXIII 123
Pencil on white wove writing paper, 75 x 117 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘123’ top left, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CXXIII – 123’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This West Country view remains unidentified. There appears to be a fortification on the crest of the central hill, with a square church tower in the distance to the right. The building with heavily shadowed arches near the waterfront may be another fortified structure; it and the horses or mules at the lower left may be those shown in a closer view on folio 121 verso (D08593; CXXIII 118a).
Technical notes:
There is some blotted offsetting below the drawing from the ink inscription on folio 125 verso opposite (D08600; CXXIII 122a).

Matthew Imms
June 2011

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A West Country Town on a River or Harbour with ?Fortifications 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-a-west-country-town-on-a-river-or-harbour-with-r1137078, accessed 23 April 2024.