Early British Drawings, Watercolours and Portrait Miniatures

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Lot 139
  • 139

Joseph Mallord William Turner R.A.

Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 GBP
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Description

  • Joseph Mallord William Turner R.A.
  • Landscape with Mill, Durham Cathedral in the Background

  • watercolour over pencil

  • 17.5 by 25 cm; 6.9 by 9.9 in.

Provenance

Benjamin Barnard (a pupil of Turner's) until 1848;
His executor's sale, Foster, 8 December 1920, lot 84;
William Spooner;
Mrs M. Spooner her sale in these Rooms, 13 March 1980, lot 82:
J. A. Hobbs

Exhibited

On loan to the Courtauld Institute, University of London, 1968-1979;
London, The Courtauld Institute Galleries, The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, April-July 1968, no. 47

Literature

Andrew Wilton, The Life and Work of J.M.W. Turner, 1979, p.325, no. 231

Catalogue Note

In the present watercolour, which dates from circa 1797, Turner depicts two figures resting at the foot of a gnarled tree. Positioned on a hill to the south-west of Durham, a windmill stands to the right, while to the left the grand structure of Durham Cathedral can be seen in the distance.

In the summer of 1797 Turner embarked on his first extensive tour of the North of England. Travelling through much of Yorkshire, Northumberland, the Tweed Valley and the Lake District, he worked in two sketchbooks; the North of England (TB XXXIV) and the Tweed and Lakes (TB XXXV). Although neither contains a preliminary pencil drawing for this watercolour, there are eight sketches relating to the city of Durham and its Cathedral.