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 > North Wales Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Bay with Surrounding Mountains, a Church and Tree in the Foreground 1798

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  • Inside front cover of sketchbook
  • Enhanced image
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Bay with Surrounding Mountains, a Church and Tree in the Foreground’ 1798 (Inside front cover of sketchbook)
Inside front cover of sketchbook
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Inside Front Cover:
A Bay with Surrounding Mountains, a Church and Tree in the Foreground 1798
D41254
Pencil on white wove writing paper, 170 x 266 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil with notes (see main catalogue entry)
Stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right, twice
Stamped in black ‘XXXIX’ centre left, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The rough sketch records the same subject as that on folio 20 recto (D01375) – a ruined church above the estuary of the Glaslyn, with Harlech Castle and Moel y Gest in the distance.
At the outer top corner relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, but ascending vertically relative to the drawing, Turner has inscribed the following in pencil:
              C  P            R G
Miss H B 1 1 Stump 1
          H B 1 1 D   Rubber
          H B
          So   1 1
          St    1 1 Rubber
          M       1
          F  B1 1 Stump’
These cryptic notes appear to relate to the process of making an etching or engraving, and can be linked to Turner’s interest in printmaking as indicated in the ‘recipe’ he wrote on one of his studies at the Royal Academy Schools (Tate D40213; verso of Tate D00057; Turner Bequest V D), or in the list in his Studies near Brighton sketchbook (Tate D40761; inside back cover of Turner Bequest XXX).

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘A Bay with Surrounding Mountains, a Church and Tree in the Foreground 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-a-bay-with-surrounding-mountains-a-church-and-tree-in-the-r1173581, accessed 25 April 2024.