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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Wales 1798 > Cyfarthfa Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Pontypridd: The Bridge over the River Taf 1798

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Pontypridd: The Bridge over the River Taf’ 1798
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Pontypridd: The Bridge over the River Taf 1798
D01641
Turner Bequest XLI 12
Pencil on white wove paper, 289 x 455 mm
Watermark ‘1794 | J Whatman’
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Stamped in black ‘XLI – 12’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Artists as well as engineers were attracted to Pontypridd by its bridge which, when it was built in 1791, was the largest single span in the world. The characteristic oculi at either end were inserted to lighten the masonry after the first bridge collapsed, though they give an impression of having been put there for decorative reasons, in imitation of the design of the famous iron bridge at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, built in 1779.
Despite its importance as an example of modern engineering, Turner drew the Pontypridd bridge only roughly, not subjecting it to the careful examination he accorded the ironworks at Cyfarthfa. He evidently had no commission to make a view of it. However, he made a copy-drawing for the use of pupils (Tate D00843; Turner Bequest XXXI A), which may have been derived from this quick sketch, or from another view of the bridge in the contemporary Swans sketchbook (Tate D01709–D01710; Turner Bequest XLII 34–35).
Technical notes:
The sheet is faded from exposure.
Verso:
Blank; inscribed in a later hand in pencil ‘44’; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Pontypridd: The Bridge over the River Taf 1798 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2013, 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/joseph-mallord-william-turner-pontypridd-the-bridge-over-the-river-taf-r1173261, accessed 23 November 2024.