Joseph Mallord William Turner, R.A.

With Hodgson, London, by 1936;
from whom acquired by Robert Bayne-Powell (1910-1994);
by direct descent to the present owner 

A. Wilton, The Life and Work of J.M.W. Turner, Fribourg 1979, p. 313, no. 127

Some of the more delicate pigments, particularly in the sky, have faded in this watercolour. There is some discolouration to the sheet and a number of repaired tears. The upper left hand corner has been reconstructed. The work is not laid down, but is attached to a back board at the extreme edges of the sheet.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This watercolour is signed and dated 1795 and was painted by Turner following his tour of the Midlands and North Wales in 1794. That year, he left London in July and was not to return until the middle of August. While away he visited many of the region’s great medieval centres, including Lichfield (see lot 184), Nottingham, Peterborough, Ely and Cambridge, all the while gathering material, inspiration and ideas. Two on-the-spot pencil drawings of the Cathedral at Peterborough survive at Tate Britain.¹

Turner was twenty years old when he painted this watercolour. His confident treatment of the complex architectural details and his mastery of a sense of space are already highly developed. Intriguingly, in the lower right hand corner of the sheet, a number of Turner’s fingerprints can clearly be seen in the dried pigment.

There is another watercolour of this subject, also dated 1795, in the Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery. The present work was once owned by Robert Bayne-Powell, a barrister, who was also an authority on portrait miniatures. He served on the Home Office Reviewing Committee for the Export of Works of Art, as Honorary Keeper of Miniatures at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and from 1984, as a consultant on miniatures at Sotheby's, London. Robert Bayne-Powell acquired the present work in 1936 and it has remained in his family until today.

1. The Tower at the South-West Corner (TB D00347) and The West Front (TB D00348)