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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Margate, London and Surrey c.1829-45 > Kent Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Ruins at Richborough; a Town in a Valley with a Church Spire Above, Probably in Kent c.1830

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Ruins at Richborough; a Town in a Valley with a Church Spire Above, Probably in Kent’ c.1830
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 38 Verso:
Ruins at Richborough; a Town in a Valley with a Church Spire Above, Probably in Kent c.1830
D35824
Turner Bequest CCCLXIII 37a
Pencil on white wove paper, 76 x 98 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Risboro’ top right, ‘canal’ centre right, ‘no more [?B...]’ bottom right, and ‘70 – [...] | [...] Da[...]’ at left, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Along the top of the page is a view of the Roman ruins at Richborough Castle near Sandwich; for others on nearby pages see under folio 7 recto (D35769).
Below is a view of buildings in a valley with a church spire beyond. Those in the foreground, including a prominent tower (perhaps with a cupola) appear to be beside a ‘canal’, and may be industrial. The view on folio 39 recto opposite (D35825; Turner Bequest CCCLXIII 38) may show another aspect of the same scene. Like the indentified views in this sketchbook, it is most likely in Kent; see the Introduction. See also folios 22 verso–23 recto (D35796, D35798; Turner Bequest CCCLXIII 21–22), and 37 verso–38 recto (D35821, D35823; Turner Bequest CCCLXIII 36–37).

Matthew Imms
September 2016

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Ruins at Richborough; a Town in a Valley with a Church Spire Above, Probably in Kent c.1830 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-ruins-at-richborough-a-town-in-a-valley-with-a-church-spire-r1183785, accessed 20 September 2024.