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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Folkestone and the Medway c.1821-2 > Folkestone Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Dover Castle, from the North East c.1821-2

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Dover Castle, from the North East’ c.1821-2
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 29 Verso:
Dover Castle, from the North East c.1821–2
D17256
Turner Bequest CXCVIII 29a
Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 187 mm
Partial watermark ‘T Edm | 18’
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[?Th...]’ towards bottom centre
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Made with the page inverted in relation to the foliation of the sketchbook, this drawing of Dover Castle is made across both the present and facing page and comprises an expansive and detailed sketch of the coastal landmark from the north east. Although Finberg recognised the Castle as one positioned at either Rochester or Dover, he was reluctant to make a definitive identification.1
The present half of the composition is predominantly concerned with swathes of loose topographic detail to the west of the castle, where the choppy hillside falls away. In the centre, towards the bottom, Turner has added a pencil inscription.
For a more detailed explanation of the part of this drawing that depicts the castle itself, see the entry for the facing page on folio 30 recto (D17257). Turner renders the castle elsewhere in this sketchbook, and a full list of the relevant pages can be found in the entry for folio 24 recto (D17247).
1
Finberg 1909, I, p.604.
Technical notes:
A thumb or finger print marks this page, towards the centre of the top edge.

Maud Whatley
January 2016

How to cite

Maud Whatley, ‘Dover Castle, from the North East c.1821–2 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, January 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, February 2017, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-dover-castle-from-the-north-east-r1184530, accessed 20 April 2024.