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

Inverted in relation to the sketchbook as foliated, the drawings on this page depict various views in and around St Peter Port on the east coast of Guernsey. At the top of the page, Turner drew the neighbouring islands of Herm, Jethou, and Sark from the harbour, making sure to note their names above each. The medieval island of fortress of Castle Cornet, positioned out in the bay, is included in the top right-hand corner.1 The sketch with a dark spire and a lighthouse in the centre of the page appears to record the view south across the town’s harbour buildings, while the bottom sketch represents the view back to town from the south, with Castle Cornet and ships’ masts out at sea to the right. Towards the bottom left-hand corner of the page is a sketch of a lighthouse which continues over onto folio 87 recto opposite (D23687; Turner Bequest CCLII 87).

For the recurrence of these subjects in the sketchbook, see the entries for folio 29 verso (D23575; Turner Bequest CCLII 29a) for Castle Cornet, and folio 30 recto (D23576; Turner Bequest CCLL 30) for St Peter Port.

Technical notes:

There is a small patch of red ink in the top right-hand corner of the page.