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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Wales 1798 > Hereford Court Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?Cader Idris from Castell y Bere 1798

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?Cader Idris from Castell y Bere’ 1798
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 51 Recto:
?Cader Idris from Castell y Bere 1798
D01288
Turner Bequest XXXVIII 36
Pencil on white wove paper, 229 x 332 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom centre
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘36’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘XXXVIII 36’ bottom left, descending vertically
Finberg’s conjecture that the view shows Cader Idris1 is very likely correct, though the ridge line is exaggeratedly broken (perhaps Turner’s attempt to reconstruct it while it was obscured by cloud). The viewpoint seems to be Castell y Bere, a ruined castle on a knoll a little way to the west of Cader. The division of the fields in the centre of the drawing immediately below the foreground drop has been preserved until the present day. Finberg’s suggestion that Plynlimmon is visible beyond is less plausible. For a note on other sketches of Cader in this book see folio 46 recto (D01284; Turner Bequest XXXVIII 32).
1
Finberg 1909, I, p.85.
Technical notes:
There are watercolour smears along edges of sheet.
Verso:
Blank; a slight pencil mark; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘?Cader Idris from Castell y Bere 1798 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-cader-idris-from-castell-y-bere-r1173191, accessed 20 April 2024.