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 River in a Valley, with a Distant Tower and Mountains 1798

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A River in a Valley, with a Distant Tower and Mountains’ 1798
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 43 Recto:
A River in a Valley, with a Distant Tower and Mountains 1798
D01396
Turner Bequest XXXIX 41
Pencil on white wove writing paper, 170 x 266 mm
Part watermark ‘1794 | J Whatman’
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘X’ below centre, in the drawing
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘41’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘XXXIX 41’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Drawn with the page turned horizontally, the tower on its low promontory is reminiscent of Dolbadarn Castle (see folio 33 recto; D01388), but the surrounding hills, although evidently obscured by cloud, descend too gently into the valley to be identified with Snowdon and its neighbours as seen from Llanberis. Furthermore, there is no sign of the Lake of Llanberis which would certainly figure in the foreground of any view of Dolbadarn from this angle. It is possible, however, that the ‘tower’ is to be identified with the large house that appears in a view in the contemporary Hereford Court sketchbook (Tate D01332; Turner Bequest XXXVIII 78), in which case this is the valley of the Gwrhyd looking south west from near Capel Curig.
Verso:
Blank; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘A River in a Valley, with a Distant Tower and Mountains 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-river-in-a-valley-with-a-distant-tower-and-mountains-r1173627, accessed 20 September 2024.