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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > History Painting c.1799-1807 > Studies for Pictures Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Cattle Grazing by a Pool, with a Castle Beyond c.1799-1802

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Cattle Grazing by a Pool, with a Castle Beyond’ c.1799-1802
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 129 Recto:
Cattle Grazing by a Pool, with a Castle Beyond c.1799–1802
D04149
Turner Bequest LXIX 130
Ink, wash and gouache on blue laid paper, 135 x 210 mm
Watermark: Strasburg lily (trimmed)
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘130’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘LXIX-130’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The distant castle appears to be Flint, of which several sketches occur in this book, some with cattle grazing nearby; see folios 14 recto and 16 recto (D04008, D04010). Turner was evidently planning a view of Flint, but no watercolour of the subject made at this period is known. The Liber Studiorum print Scene on the French Coast (traditionally known as ‘Flint Castle’), published in 1807 (Tate impressions: A00917, A00918; see also Tate D08104 and D08105; Turner Bequest CXVI C, D), has a castle in the distance with vessels unloading in the foreground, but no cattle.
In about 1834, Flint Castle was to be the subject of a watercolour design for the Picturesque Views in England and Wales (private collection),1 engraved in 1836 (Tate impressions: T05873, T06121), and there is a further watercolour of about the same date (private collection).2
1
Andrew Wilton, J.M.W. Turner: His Life and Work, Fribourg 1979, p.401 no.868, reproduced.
2
Ibid., pp.403–4 no.885, reproduced.
Verso:
Blank

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Cattle Grazing by a Pool, with a Castle Beyond c.1799–1802 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 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-cattle-grazing-by-a-pool-with-a-castle-beyond-r1178029, accessed 26 April 2024.