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 > North Wales Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Ruined Church above Traeth Bach 1798

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Ruined Church above Traeth Bach’ 1798
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 20 Recto:
A Ruined Church above Traeth Bach 1798
D01375
Turner Bequest XXXIX 20
Pencil on white wove writing paper, 170 x 266 mm
Part watermark ‘1794’
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘20’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘XXXIX 20’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Turner’s viewpoint appears to be on the hills above Traeth Bach, on the road to Maentwrog, leading to Aberglaslyn and Beddgelert. The large structure on the extreme left is probably Harlech Castle, and the conical hill of Moel y Gest is seen over the foreground ruin, above Traeth Mawr (now drained with the town of Portmadog built on it; see under Tate D10247 in the contemporary Hereford Court sketchbook; Turner Bequest XXXVIII). The Lleyn Peninsular is visible in the far distance.
The site has alternatively been identified as Llandanw, south of Harlech; but this is inconsistent with the disposition of the principal elements in the drawing. For another drawing identified as showing Llandanw, see the 1799 Lancashire and North Wales sketchbook (Tate D01939; Turner Bequest XLV 20a).
Verso:
Blank; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘A Ruined Church above Traeth Bach 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-a-ruined-church-above-traeth-bach-r1173602, accessed 17 July 2024.