Hereford Court Sketchbook 1798

Andrew Wilton; revised by Matthew Imms

Hereford Court Sketchbook 1798

Entry
Artworks

D01247–D01326, D01328–D01333, D01335–D01355, D40575–D40576

Turner Bequest XXXVIII 1–101

Sketchbook bound in boards covered in brown calf leather with four brass clasps (broken)
107 leaves of and paste-downs of white wove paper; various leaves watermarked ‘1794 | J Whatman’; page size 332 x 229 mm
Inscribed by Turner ?in ink ‘South Wales | and | North Wales’ on front cover, ascending vertically (the second line only now legible)
Inscribed in ink ‘XXXVIII’ on paper label on front cover, top right
Numbered 153 as part of the Turner Schedule in 1854 and endorsed by the Executors of the Turner Bequest inside front cover (see main catalogue entry)
Inscribed by Arthur Magyer Hind in pencil ‘Restored & rebound as near as possible to | the original order, 1934 AMH’ inside front cover (see main catalogue entry)

Exhibition history

References

Following the North of England and Tweed and Lakes sketchbooks (Tate; Turner Bequest XXXIV, XXXV), used during Turner’s important tour of 1797, this is perhaps the most substantial book to have emerged from his tours of the 1790s. Like those two it covers a long itinerary and is full of careful pencil drawings. It also boasts an unusual proportion of richly coloured sheets, testifying to the artist’s increasing willingness to use watercolour while travelling.

This trend was to reach a spectacular culmination in 1799 when he took large sheets of paper with him to Snowdonia and realised a long series of studies on the mountains in colour on the spot (see the sub-section of this catalogue comprising separate sheets relating to the Welsh tour of that year) – a feat never repeated during his career, though he was to make some large drawings, a few of them coloured, in France and Switzerland in 1802. The mountains of Snowdonia were the first of any size that he had encountered – considerably higher and grander than the hills of the Lake District – and he was determined to use this experience of Sublime scenery to expand his technical range.

As Finberg points out,1 the experimental nature of the book relates it to the Wilson sketchbook of a year or so earlier (Tate; Turner Bequest XXXVII), and the influence of Richard Wilson (1713–1782) is strong in a sequence of drawings recording a tour across the length of Wilson’s native Wales. Turner was to recall many years later, in 1847, ‘the days of my youth when I was in search of Richard Wilson’s birthplace,’2 and this (together with the 1799 tour) is probably the trip he had in mind.

The sketchbook is one of five that Turner took with him on this tour. The others are: North Wales (Tate; Turner Bequest XXXIX), Dynevor Castle (Tate; Turner Bequest XL), Cyfarthfa (Tate; Turner Bequest XLI), and Swans (Tate; Turner Bequest XLII; included in a subsequent section of this catalogue owing to its coverage of other material). To some extent, he used the books in alternation throughout his tour, so that, for example, subjects in the Hereford Court book recur in the North Wales book, which, being smaller in format, was perhaps more conducive to rapid note-taking. He began his tour in Bristol, staying with his old family friends the Narraways (see the Bristol and Malmesbury sketchbook, Tate; Turner Bequest VI). Ann Dart, a niece of Mr Narraway, later recalled that ‘Turner went from my uncle’s house on a sketching tour in North Wales. My uncle gave him a pony, and lent him a saddle, bridle and cloak, but these he never returned.’3

Turner’s precise itinerary is hard to reconstruct since the sketchbook was disbound and the original order of its pages lost (see the Technical notes below), making identification of many of the subjects difficult or impossible. However, the broad outlines are clear enough. He crossed the Severn and proceeded up the Wye, through Chepstow, past Tintern, and over to Brecon; then to Cardiff and Ewenny, which he had visited in 1795. His visit to the ironworks at Cyfarthfa was presumably prompted by a request from Anthony Bacon for four views of Richard Crawshay’s famous works; see folio 107 verso (D01249). Moving out of Glamorgan, Turner joined the valley of the Tywi (or Towy) and followed the river to the coast at Llanstephan, cutting across to Pembroke and Cilgarren.

From there he set off north to Aberystwyth and Dolgellau, and made many drawings of Cader Idris from different viewpoints, making a detour to the east towards Dinas Mawddwy. He followed the Mawddach estuary to Barmouth, passed Harlech and the estuary of Traeth Mawr, then entered Snowdonia through the pass of Aberglaslyn and after exploring the mountains thoroughly he returned via Denbigh, Llangollen and Ludlow. He stopped at Hampton Court in Herefordshire, a seat of the fifth Earl of Essex (1757–1839), to make drawings for Sir Richard Colt Hoare (1758–1838), whose commission for views of that house, together with another for some views at Malmesbury, may, together with Anthony Bacon’s order for views of Cyfarthfa, have prompted the tour.

Turner had already made drawings of Hampton Court for the Earl of Essex (Viscount Malden until 1799) when he passed through Herefordshire in 1795. Gerald Wilkinson 4 says that some drawings in the Hampton Court book were done in that year, but this seems unlikely, partly on stylistic grounds, partly because it would have been odd for Turner to have carried with him so substantial a book and not to have put it to better use than to make the two fairly slight pencil drawings of the house, folios 101 recto and 102 recto (D01320, D01321; Turner Bequest XXXVIII 66, 67). Another possible explanation for his interest in Hampton Court at this juncture is that he was stimulated by his work with the architect James Wyatt (1746–1813) at Fonthill to record other of Wyatt’s projects, which would perhaps explain the note of a detail of the modern alterations at Hampton Court in the Dynevor Castle sketchbook (Tate D01595; Turner Bequest XL 78a). Wyatt’s involvement at Hampton Court is not confirmed, but this fact might strengthen the case for it.5

Commissions aside, the choice of Wales, and specifically the mountains of North Wales, as a destination followed naturally from the previous year’s journey to the Lake District. It was to be followed by the second tour to Snowdonia, mentioned above, in 1799, and by a visit to the Highlands of Scotland in 1801 (see subsequent sections of this catalogue). The Hereford Court book was an important source of material for the watercolours and paintings that Turner produced, and exhibited, in the last years of the decade, and he continued to refer to it in later life, principally when selecting subjects for the watercolours engraved for the Picturesque Views in England and Wales in the 1820s and 1830s.

Inside the front cover, Turner has written in pencil ‘M^r Morris Newbury’ at the top left, ascending vertically; there are also some paint smears. One of Turner’s most important commissions for work based on material gathered on this tour was from Anthony Bacon, who, according to Turner’s note on folio 107 verso (D01249), lived ‘near Newbury’. Mr Morris may have been a connection of Bacon. Inside the back cover there are red and blue paints trials. The gilt tooled spine, according to Finberg, formerly bore a parchment label inscribed ‘94 Lakes Hereford Court. Lakes. Malmesbury’.6

The front paste-down also bears the 1854 schedule number and endorsement of the executors of the Turner Bequest, George Jones, John Prescott Knight and Charles Lock Eastlake in ink ‘N^o 153. | George Jones’ and in pencil ‘JPK’ and ‘C.L.E.’ at the top left. Above the centre, National Gallery curator R.N. Wornum has commented in pencil ‘Four out | R.N.W. 1868’. Towards the top right, British Museum curator Arthur Magyer Hind has noted in pencil ‘Restored & rebound as near as possible to | the original order, 1934 AMH’ (see the Technical notes below) and begun another inscription, limited to ‘Note that’, to the left of the centre.

Finberg 1961, p.52

John Gage, (ed.), Collected Correspondence of J.M.W. Turner with an Early Diary and a Memoir by George Jones, Oxford 1980, p.219 letter 307.

Finberg 1961, p.51.

Wilkinson 1972, p.62

A recent and comprehensive account of the architect’s life and work, John Martin Robinson, James Wyatt, Architect to George III, New Haven and London 2012, makes no mention of Hampton Court. For Turner’s relations with Wyatt, see Andrew Wilton, ‘Post tenebras lux: J.M.W. Turner, James Wyatt and the importance of stained glass’, Burlington Magazine, vol.154, May 2012, pp.322–9.

Finberg 1909, I, p.83.

Technical notes

The book had been disbound and its original order had to be guessed at by Finberg, who numbered the pages according to Turner’s itinerary as it was suggested by those leaves whose subjects could be identified. Some pages escaped altogether and have entered other collections; two were in the sale of J.E. Taylor’s collection at Christie’s. London, 8 July 1912: lot 106 as ‘River Scene: Evening’, and lot 108 as ‘A Mountain Stream’. When the book was rebound at the British Museum in 1934 after the Tate 1928 flood, a new order was arrived at. However, that sequence of pages does not appear to be entirely correct. Rather than instituting a third sequence, the leaves are here foliated consecutively as they are bound; but it should be borne in mind that the sequence hardly corresponds to the order in which the drawings were originally made. The stubs of sheets noted by Finberg as having been torn out are either identified with leaves inserted elsewhere, or have been lost in rebinding and are noted as Finberg recorded them; see the notes following the overall concordance provided here.

Folio	Tate	Turner Bequest
1 Recto	D01247	Finberg: ‘fly-leaf’
2 Recto	D01252	XXXVIII 3
3 Recto	D01253	XXXVIII 4
4 Recto	D01250	XXXVIII 1
5 Recto	D01251	XXXVIII 2
6 Recto	D01328	XXXVIII 74
7 Recto	D01340	XXXVIII 86
8 Recto	D01254	XXXVIII 5
9 Recto	D01255	XXXVIII 6
10 Recto	D01256	XXXVIII 7
11 Recto	D01257	XXXVIII 8
12 Recto	D01258	XXXVIII 9
13 Recto	D01259	XXXVIII 10
14 Recto	D01260	XXXVIII 11
15 Recto	D01335	XXXVIII 81
16 Recto	D01262	XXXVIII 12
17 Recto	D01333	XXXVIII 79
18 Recto	D01263	XXXVIII 13
19 Recto	D01264	XXXVIII 14
20 Recto	D01265	XXXVIII 15
21 Recto	D01266	XXXVIII 16
22 Recto	D01275	XXXVIII 24a
23 Recto	D01341	XXXVIII 87
24 Recto	D01267	XXXVIII 17
25 Recto	D01268	XXXVIII 18
26 Recto	D01269	XXXVIII 19
27 Recto	D01270	XXXVIII 20
28 Recto	D01271	XXXVIII 21
29 Recto	D01272	XXXVIII 22
30 Recto	D01273	XXXVIII 23
31 Recto	D01274	XXXVIII 24
32 Recto	D01331	XXXVIII 77
33 Recto	D01276	XXXVIII 25
34 Recto	D01355	XXXVIII 101
35 Recto	D01277	XXXVIII 26
36 Recto	D01278	XXXVIII 27
37 Recto	D01342	XXXVIII 88
38 Recto	D01279	XXXVIII 28
39 Recto	D01280	XXXVIII 28a
40 Recto	D01354	XXXVIII 100
41 Recto	D01281	XXXVIII 29
42 Recto	D01282	XXXVIII 30
43 Recto	D01283	XXXVIII 31
44 Recto	D01324	XXXVIII 70
45 Recto	D01339	XXXVIII 85
46 Recto	D01284	XXXVIII 32
47 Recto	D01285	XXXVIII 33
48 Recto	D01286	XXXVIII 34
49 Recto	D01287	XXXVIII 35
49 Verso	D40575	-
50 Recto	D01353	XXXVIII 99
50 Verso	D40576	-
51 Recto	D01288	XXXVIII 36
52 Recto	D01349	XXXVIII 95
53 Recto	D01289	XXXVIII 37
54 Recto	D01290	XXXVIII 38
55 Recto	D01345	XXXVIII 91
56 Recto	D01326	XXXVIII 72
57 Recto	D01291	XXXVIII 39
58 Recto	D01292	XXXVIII 40
59 Recto	D01293	XXXVIII 41
60 Recto	D01294	XXXVIII 42
61 Recto	D01295	XXXVIII 42 a
62 Recto	D01329	XXXVIII 75
63 Recto	D01352	XXXVIII 98
64 Recto	D01346	XXXVIII 92
65 Recto	D01330	XXXVIII 76
66 Recto	D01351	XXXVIII 97
67 Recto	D01347	XXXVIII 93
68 Recto	D01348	XXXVIII 94
69 Recto	D01296	XXXVIII 43
70 Recto	D01332	XXXVIII 78
71 Recto	D01337	XXXVIII 83
72 Recto	D01338	XXXVIII 84
73 Recto	D01297	XXXVIII 44
74 Recto	D01298	XXXVIII 45
75 Recto	D01299	XXXVIII 46
76 Recto	D01300	XXXVIII 47
77 Recto	D01301	XXXVIII 48
78 Recto	D01325	XXXVIII 71
79 Recto	D01302	XXXVIII 49
80 Recto	D01303	XXXVIII 50
81 Recto	D01304	XXXVIII 50a
82 Recto	D01305	XXXVIII 51
83 Recto	D01306	XXXVIII 52
84 Recto	D01336	XXXVIII 82
85 Recto	D01307	XXXVIII 53
86 Recto	D01308	XXXVIII 54
87 Recto	D01309	XXXVIII 55
88 Recto	D01310	XXXVIII 56
89 Recto	D01311	XXXVIII 57
90 Recto	D01350	XXXVIII 96
91 Recto	D01312	XXXVIII 58
92 Recto	D01313	XXXVIII 59
93 Recto	D01314	XXXVIII 60
94 Recto	D01315	XXXVIII 61
95 Recto	D01316	XXXVIII 62
96 Recto	D01261	XXXVIII 11a
97 Recto	D01317	XXXVIII 63
98 Recto	D01343	XXXVIII 89
99 Recto	D01318	XXXVIII 64
100 Recto	D01319	XXXVIII 65
101 Recto	D01320	XXXVIII 66
102 Recto	D01321	XXXVIII 67
103 Recto	D01322	XXXVIII 68
104 Recto	D01323	XXXVIII 69
105 Recto	D01344	XXXVIII 90
106 Recto	D01248	-
107 Recto	-	[blank]
107 Verso	D01249	-

For the record,7 below are Finberg’s notes on the physical gaps in the sketchbook’s page sequence in 1909, and his attempts to account for them by suggesting where some of the large number of then separate pages ‘numbered continuously, as there original positions cannot be discovered with certainty’8 (Turner Bequest XXXVIII 70–101) might best fit in.

Finberg 1909, vol.I, p.83:	Comments:
‘Leaf with watercolour on torn out’ after what is now folio 1 (D01247; ‘fly-leaf’)	Possibly referring to XXXVIII 3 (D01252), now bound as folio 2
Ibid., p.84:
‘Leaf cut out; now numbered p. 74’ after what is now folio 3 (D01253; XXXVIII 4)	XXXVIII 74 (D01328) is now folio 6
‘Leaf torn out’ after what is now folio 16 (D01262; XXXVIII 12)	XXVIII 79 (D01333) is now folio 17
‘Leaf containing a water colour drawing torn out’ after what is now folio 18 (D01263; XXXVIII 13)	No additional leaf has since been bound here, but there is a shallow stub of modern paper; see the entry for D01263
‘Two leaves cut out’ after what is now folio 21 (D01266; XXXVIII 16)	XXXVIII 24a and 87 (D01275, D01341) are now folios 22 and 23
Ibid., p.85:
‘Leaf with water colour on it torn out’ after what is now folio 33 (D01276; XXXVIII 25)	XXXVIII 101 (D01355) is now folio 34
‘Leaf with water colour on it torn out. Cf p. 77’ after what is now folio 36 (D01278; XXXVIII 27)	XXXVIII 88 (D01342) is now folio 37; Finberg’s candidate (D01331) is now folio 32
‘Page cut out’ after what is now folio 43 (D01283; XXXVIII 31)	XXXVIII 70 (D01324) is now folio 44, although Finberg suggested it should come after folio 46 (D01284; XXXVIII 32)
‘Leaf cut out. Cf. p. 70’ after what is now folio 46 (D01284; XXXVIII 32)	No additional leaf has since been bound here; see the note immediately above
‘Leaf torn out; had been used for water colour. Cf. p. 72. Perhaps two leaves’ after what is now folio 49 (D01287/D40575; XXXVIII 35)	XXXVIII 99 (D01353) is now folio 50 recto; Finberg’s candidate (D01326; XXXVIII 72) is now folio 56; in an MS note in a copy of Finberg 1909 (Tate Britain Prints and Drawings Room) he suggested XXXVIII 95 (D01349) should be here; but see immediately below
‘Leaf cut out’ after what is now folio 51 (D01288; XXXVIII 36)	XXXVIII 95 (D01349) is now folio 52
‘Leaf torn out; has been used for water colour’ after what is now folio 54 recto (D01290; XXXVIII 38)	XXXVIII 91 and 72 (D01345, D01326) are now folios 55 and 56
‘Leaf with torn out. Cf. p. 75’ after what is now folio 58 (D01292; XXXVIII 40)	No additional leaf has since been bound here; Finberg’s candidate (D01329) is now folio 62
Ibid., p.86:
‘Four leaves cut out’ after what is now folio 69 (D01296; XXXVIII 43)	Finberg was also unsure (MS note as above) of the exact positions of D01296–D01299 (Turner Bequest XXXVIII 43. 44, 45, 46), which he marked as ‘Probably [coming] before this’; see the concordance for the three leaves now bound at this point
‘Leaf with torn out. Cf. p. 79’ after what is now folio 76 (D01300; XXXVIII 47)	No additional leaf has since been bound here; Finberg’s candidate (D01333) is now folio 17
‘Two leaves cut out, one of which has been used for water colour; these are (probably) p. 78 and (certainly) p. 71)’ after what is now folio 77 (D01301; XXXVIII 48)	Of Finberg’s candidates, XXXVIII 71 (D01325) is now folio 78, but XXXVIII 78 (D01332) has been bound as folio 70
‘Two leaves cut out; one of them ... now numbered p. 50a’ after what is now folio 80 (D01303; XXXVIII 50)	XXXVIII 50a (D01304) is now folio 81
‘Leaf cut out. Cf. p. 82’ after what is now folio 83 (D01306; XXXVIII 52)	XXXVIII 82 (D01336) is now folio 84
Ibid., p.87:
‘Leaf, with water colour on it, cut out’ after what is now folio 89 (D01311; XXXVIII 57)	XXXVIII 96 (D01350) is now folio 90
‘Leaf with watercolour on cut out. Cf. p. 89. Weir Bridge, Ludlow’ after what is now folio 97 (D01317; XXXVIII 63)	XXXVIII 89 (D01343) is now folio 98
‘4 leaves torn out’ after what is now folio 103 recto (D01322; XXXVIII 68)	No additional leaves have since been bound here

Finberg’s XXXVIII ‘73’, effectively just cross-reference to XXXVIII 28a (folio 39; D01280) was assigned Tate accession number D01327, since cancelled. Similarly XXXVIII ‘80’ was cross-referenced to XXXVIII 42a (folio 61; D01295), and the associated Tate number D01334 has also been cancelled.

Such was the complex effort put into reconstructing this particular sketchbook that A.M. Hind made it a case study in discussing the restoration of Turner Bequest material at the British Museum.9 Unusually, a sheaf of his MS notes survives and is kept with the book; it is headed ‘Notes & method used in reconstruction of the book [‘as far as possible’ inserted] in its original order. AMH | 1934 | AJ Finberg | E Croft Murray’.

The remainder of this introduction has been compiled by Tate cataloguer Matthew Imms, based on Andrew Wilton’s notes which originally followed on immediately from various individual entries, and correlating them with Finberg’s remarks.

Finberg 1909, I, p.87.

See A.M. Hind, ‘The Reconstitution of a Turner Sketch-Book’, British Museum Quarterly, vol.9, no.2, December 1934, pp.59–60.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

Revised by Matthew Imms
January 2015

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Joseph Mallord William Turner

Inscription by Turner: An Address 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01247
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Malmesbury: The Ruined West Front of the Abbey 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01252
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Malmesbury: Interior of the Abbey 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01253
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Malmesbury: Distant View of the Abbey from the North 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01250
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Malmesbury Abbey: The Ruins from the North-West, with … 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01251
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Malmesbury: The Ruined Tower of the Abbey, with the Parish … 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01328
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Malmesbury: The Abbey from the North 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01340
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Malmesbury: The Abbey from the North-East 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01254
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Malmesbury: The Market Cross, with the Abbey Beyond 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01255
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Malmesbury: Near View of the Abbey Nave, Seen from the South 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01256
Joseph Mallord William Turner

View of Malmesbury from the South-West 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01257
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Malmesbury: The South Porch of the Abbey 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01258
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Malmesbury: General View of the Town from the West 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01259
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Chepstow: View of the Town, Looking North 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01260
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Panoramic View of the Junction of the Rivers Severn and Wye 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01335
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Rocks above the Wye, with a View of the Severn Beyond 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01262
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Tintern: The Ruined Gatehouse of the Abbey, from the Wye 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01333
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Tintern: The Abbey and Village Looking Downstream 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01263
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Blank 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01264
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Brecon on the River Usk with the Bridge and Ruined Castle, … 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01265
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Llandovery Castle 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01266
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Dynevor Castle on a Wooded Cliff above the River Tywi (Towy) 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01275
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Carreg Cennen: View from the Castle Walls 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01341
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Carreg Cennen: The Castle Seen from Below 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01267
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Carreg Cennen: The Castle from the East 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01268
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Carreg Cennen: The Castle from the South-West 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01269
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Distant view of Carreg Cennen Castle from the West 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01270
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Llandeilo: The Broken Bridge over the River Tywi (Towy), … 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01271
Joseph Mallord William Turner

Dynevor Castle and the Valley of the Tywi (Towy) 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01272
Sorry, no image is available of this artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner

Blank 1798

Hereford Court Sketchbook

D01273

Showing 1 - 30 of 109 artworks

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Hereford Court Sketchbook 1798’, sketchbook, May 2013, revised by Matthew Imms, January 2015, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/hereford-court-sketchbook-r1173138, accessed 25 April 2024.

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