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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > North of England 1797-1801 > North of England Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Part of the Ruins of Spofforth Castle 1797

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Part of the Ruins of Spofforth Castle’ 1797
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 79 Recto:
Part of the Ruins of Spofforth Castle 1797
D00984
Turner Bequest XXXIV 75
Pencil on white wove paper, 210 x 270 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom left
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘75’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘XXXIV 75’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
While he was at Harewood, Turner was commissioned to produce two paintings for the Saloon; they were to depict Plompton Rocks, a geological curiosity at Plompton Hall, a Lascelles property, near Knaresborough; see Tate D02392 and D17202 (Turner Bequest LI Y, CXCVII L). On his way from Harewood to view the Rocks, he passed the small village of Spofforth between Harrogate and Wetherby, and made this drawing, which however he never, as far as is known, developed into a finished work. The subject is drawn with the page turned horizontally. It shows the north-west corner of the building, a fortified house built by Henry Percy who obtained licence to crenellate in 1308.
Verso:
Blank; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.

Andrew Wilton
January 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Part of the Ruins of Spofforth Castle 1797 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, January 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-part-of-the-ruins-of-spofforth-castle-r1150140, accessed 30 June 2024.