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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Ports of England c.1822-8 > 'Ports of England' Studies > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Folkestone c.1822-3

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Folkestone’ c.1822-3
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folkestone c.1822–3
D17761
Turner Bequest CCIII D
Pen and ink and pencil on white wove paper, 174 x 230 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘The Cliff too high’, ‘Cliff. Grass and Dark Colour and Loam’, ‘Keep these houses less’, ‘[... ] Beach’, ‘White [...]’, ‘Dover, Folkestone, Lulworth, St. Mawes, Black Gang’, ‘Folkestone’ in margins, clockwise
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Sand’, ‘Sun’, and numerals ‘1’ to ‘21’ across the upper register in main body of drawing
Inscribed by Turner in ink ‘Pier head’ in main body of drawing, towards top left
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This pencil drawing may relate to the finished watercolour Fishing Boats on Folkestone Beach (National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin) according to Ian Warrell.1 Both Eric Shanes and Warrell find this finished design to be associated with the Ports of England series rather than the Picturesque Views of England and Wales which curator Barbara Dawson has traditionally associated it with.2 If this pencil drawing is connected with the Ports series then it may relate to the previous colour sketch of Folkestone (Tate D17760; Turner Bequest CCIII C).
The drawing is very finely wrought in fine pencil and pen and ink. This form of handling and the fact that the sheet has been annotated indicates that it was intended for engraving, the notes functioning as aids or instructions for the engraver. The architectural details of the medieval Church of St Mary and St Eanswythe atop the headland are clearly delineated, as are those of the surrounding harbour buildings. Turner has inscribed the numbers ‘1’ to ‘21’ on the upper register of the sheet which may relate to the process of translating the design to the metal plate.
There is a pencil sketch on the back of the sheet which is indecipherable.
1
Warrell 1997, pp.169, 211, note27.
2
Ibid; Eric Shanes, Turner’s England 1810 – 38, London 1990, p.146, no.116 (colour); Dawson 1988, pp.82–4.
Verso:
The sheet is stamped with the Turner Bequest monogram and ‘CCIII–D’ at top right and inscribed in pencil ‘33a’ at centre towards left.

Alice Rylance-Watson
March 2013

How to cite

Alice Rylance-Watson, ‘Folkestone c.1822–3 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, March 2013, 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-folkestone-r1148218, accessed 19 April 2024.