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

Here is a view of Bass Rock from the shore, continued from folio 5 verso (D13593; CLXVII 5a) where the nearby Tantallon Castle is seen from across a bay to the west. Although it is drawn with great economy, there is a lot of detail in the depiction of Bass Rock, with its ancient fortifications clearly visible. Beyond the rock on the far side of the Firth of Forth is the coastline of Fife (evidently drawn by Turner before adding the island which overlaps with it). The cliff upon which he stood to make the sketch is shown in the foreground at the bottom of the page.

The double-page sketch is regarded as the basis of Turner’s watercolour, Tantallon Castle, 1821 (1821, Manchester City Galleries),1 made for the Provincial Antiquities. But while the sketch of the castle and rock were probably based on the current drawing, the vantage point is shifted to the rocks beneath the cliff where we now stand (see folios 8 verso and 9; D13598–D13599; CLXVII 8a–8b).

There is a small brown mark at the lower centre of the page.