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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Great Mew Stone, near Wembury, with Rame Head in the Distance 1813

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 53 Recto:
The Great Mew Stone, near Wembury, with Rame Head in the Distance 1813
D09275
Turner Bequest CXXXI 53
Pencil on white wove paper, 95 x 157 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Brack’ and ‘Purple B’ centre, ‘Sheep among [?Grss]’ bottom left and ‘Corn’ top right, all within drawing
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘53’ bottom right, descending vertically, and ‘6’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CXXXI – 53’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This is the first of a sequence running on to folio 57 recto (D09279), showing the Great Mew Stone in Wembury Bay and the adjacent mainland south-east of Plymouth. With the page turned horizontally, here the view is to the west from the coast, with Rame Head in the distance on the far side of Plymouth Sound. The subjects as far as folio 127 recto (D09358) are all identified or presumed sites within a few miles in and around Plymouth, suggesting a series of fairly short excursions.
There are more views of the Mew Stone, this time from the sea, working in from the back of the sketchbook between folios 268 verso and 261 verso (D09462, D09448; CXXXI 179a, 172a); the feature is discussed further within the latter sequence.
Verso:
Blank

Matthew Imms
April 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘The Great Mew Stone, near Wembury, with Rame Head in the Distance 1813 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-great-mew-stone-near-wembury-with-rame-head-in-the-r1148003, accessed 19 September 2024.