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 > Medway Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Castle Towers and Shipping c.1821

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Castle Towers and Shipping’ c.1821
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 1 Recto:
Castle Towers and Shipping c.1821
D17365
Turner Bequest CXCIX 1
Pencil on white wove paper, 112 x 190 mm
Stamped in black ‘CXCIX – 1’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
As observed by Finberg, two brief sketches occupy this page.1 The first, made towards the left, delineates the turrets of a castle somewhat vaguely. At centre, two blunt towers flank a conical shape, and a hoisted flag appears to flutter at the top of a flag pole slightly to the right of centre.
At far right, made with the page turned vertically, is the outline of a ship. A bridge or ladder is indicated at centre by a series of horizontal dashes. These form a link between port and deck. Detail is largely eschewed in favour of an evocative linear silhouette.
1
Finberg 1909, I, p.607.
Technical notes:
At left, towards the top, the paper is spotted with dark brown, presumably left by residual moisture of some kind. The bottom left corner is marked by the line of a crease where it has been folded.

Maud Whatley
January 2016

How to cite

Maud Whatley, ‘Castle Towers and Shipping c.1821 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-castle-towers-and-shipping-r1184642, accessed 26 April 2024.