Joseph Mallord William Turner Okehampton Castle from the South-East 1814
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 60 Recto:
Okehampton Castle from the South-East 1814
D09871
Turner Bequest CXXXIV 70
Turner Bequest CXXXIV 70
Pencil on white wove paper with gilt edges, 179 x 254 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CXXXIV – 70’ bottom right
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CXXXIV – 70’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Exhibition history
1878
Oxford Loan Collection, University Galleries, Oxford, 1878–1909 or later (83; renumbered 157b).
References
1904
E.T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn eds., Library Edition: The Works of John Ruskin: Volume XIII: Turner: The Harbours of England; Catalogues and Notes, London 1904, p.567 (Catalogue of Sketches by Turner Lent by the Trustees of the National Gallery to the Ruskin Drawing School, Oxford. [1878]), no.157, as ‘Okehampton. View opposite to’ the other work bracketed under 157, ‘Okehampton (“Rivers of England”)’ (D09872; Turner Bequest CXXXIV 71).
1909
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.I, p.383, CXXXIV 70, as ‘Okehampton’.
1979
Andrew Wilton, J.M.W. Turner: His Life and Work, Fribourg 1979, p.385 under no.738, p.393 under no.802.
The castle is seen from the south-east, across the West Okement Valley. While noting this sketch in passing in relation to the watercolour Okehampton, on the Okement of about 1824 (Tate D18138; Turner Bequest CCVIII E),1 engraved in 1825 for The Rivers of England (see under folio 64 recto; D09872; Turner Bequest CXXXIV 71), Andrew Wilton cites it as the direct source of the watercolour Okehampton, Devonshire of about 1826 (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne),2 engraved in 1828 for Turner’s Picturesque Views in England and Wales. However, the relative disposition of elements of the ruins in the watercolour suggest it shows a view from the south or south-west – compare folio 63 recto (D09816; Turner Bequest CXXXIV 24).
For other views of the town and castle at Okehampton, see under folio 59 recto (D09814; Turner Bequest CXXXIV 22).
Technical notes:
The page has darkened from long exposure on exhibition, with a strip unaffected along the top edge where it was protected by the mount.
Verso:
Blank, save for inscriptions: by John Ruskin in red ink ‘935’ bottom left; and in pencil ‘117’ bottom centre. The recto is one of eight drawings from this sketchbook lent to Oxford University in the nineteenth century (for the others see the sketchbook’s Introduction). Each has a large pencil number inscribed on the back which presumably relates to this loan, although they do not tally with the Oxford catalogue numbers; the verso’s surface is marked by extensive glue stains, presumably having been pasted down for display.
Matthew Imms
July 2014
How to cite
Matthew Imms, ‘Okehampton Castle from the South-East 1814 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, July 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, September 2014, https://www