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 c.1821-2

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Dover Castle from the North’ c.1821-2
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 49 Recto:
Dover Castle from the North c.1821–2
D17289
Turner Bequest CXCVIII 49
Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 187 mm
Partial watermark ‘monds | 19’
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘49’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CXCVIII – 49’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Across this and the facing page on folio 48 verso (D17288) Turner makes a detailed drawing of Dover Castle from the north.1 For more information about the left hand aspect of the sketch, see the catalogue entry for that page. Here the prospect describes the undulations and ditches which characterise the landscape to the west of the castle, as well as sections of the two defensive walls which encircle the great tower.
The top right hand corner of this page is cordoned off by a pair of lightly rendered lines; one horizontal, one vertical, joined at a right angle to produce a box against the similarly angled edges of the paper. Inside this isolated space is a small, rough drawing of a coastal view, possibly Dover Castle a second time but from a westerly perspective. A circular orb hangs in the sky; presumably the sun. The foreground is darkened with a scribbled, unidentified mass. For further drawings of Dover Castle in this sketchbook, see a list included in the entry for folio 24 recto (D17247). For a survey of the pages which describe the landscape at Dover, refer to the entry for folio 71 verso (D17329).
1
Finberg,1909, I, p.605.
Verso:
Blank
Partial watermark ‘monds | 19’

Maud Whatley
January 2016

How to cite

Maud Whatley, ‘Dover Castle from the North 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-r1184563, accessed 24 September 2024.