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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Prebends' Bridge and the Watergate, Durham 1817

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 7 Recto:
Prebends’ Bridge and the Watergate, Durham 1817
D12326
Turner Bequest CLVII 7
Pencil on white wove paper, 116 x 185 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘7’ bottom right (now very faint)
Stamped in black ‘CLVII – 7’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The Georgian bridge is seen to the south-east from the wooded slopes across the River Wear from Durham Cathedral. In the trees to the left is the arch of the Watergate on South Bailey; the foliage on the left continues a little onto folio 6 verso opposite (D40920).The bridge and arch are also visible in the drawing made from further north on folio 10 recto (D12330). There is a similar view in the 1801 Helmsley sketchbook (Tate D02485, D02486; Turner Bequest LIII 16a–17).
This is one of a continuous run of drawings of Durham, beginning on folio 6 recto (D12325) and concluding on folio 14 recto (D12334), with one further sketch on folio 76 verso (D12414). For Turner’s other visits to the city, see the entry for D12325.
Verso:
Blank

Matthew Imms
February 2010

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Prebends’ Bridge and the Watergate, Durham 1817 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, February 2010, 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-prebends-bridge-and-the-watergate-durham-r1139325, accessed 25 April 2024.