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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Tamworth Castle and St Editha's Church from the Tame Valley 1830

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 55 Recto:
Tamworth Castle and St Editha’s Church from the Tame Valley 1830
D22077
Turner Bequest CCXXXVIII 54
Pencil on white wove paper, 120 x 203 mm
Partial watermark ‘R Ba | 18’
Inscribed by Turner ‘[?Fazeley]’ bottom centre
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘54’ bottom left, upside down
Stamped in black ‘CCXXXVIII – 54’ top left, upside down
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, the view is north up the valley of the River Tame towards Tamworth Castle and St Editha’s Church, with Ladybridge to the left of the castle. The foreground is only lightly indicated, making the viewpoint uncertain, although it is presumably north of the Coventry Canal aqueduct over the River Tame near Fazeley (the word possibly inscribed here) shown on folio 54 verso opposite (D22076; Turner Bequest CCXXXVIII 53a). The valley is now obscured by trees.
For Turner’s England and Wales watercolour and other views of Tamworth, see under folio 52 verso (D22072; Turner Bequest CCXXXVIII 51c).

Matthew Imms
August 2013

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Tamworth Castle and St Editha’s Church from the Tame Valley 1830 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, August 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-tamworth-castle-and-st-edithas-church-from-the-tame-valley-r1148718, accessed 19 September 2024.