FAMAG 1000.95
Turner, Joseph Mallord William RA (1775-1851): Falmouth Harbour, Cornwall, engraver: Cooke, William Bernard, dated 1818, inscribed with title and artist on plate, Coloured line engraving, Part VI, R98, Image size: 157 x 239mm , Plate mark size: 229 x 304mm, Sheet size: 282 x 424mm.
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Picturesque Views on the Southern Coast of England
1814-1826
Turner's high plateau vista is from the hill behind Flushing looking southwards across the Fal estuary towards Pendennis Point. Its castle and that of St Mawes away to the left were built in the reign of Henry VIII between 1540 -1543. Together they guarded one of the deepest harbours in the realm against invasion from the Continent. During Turner's visit in the summer of 1811, the town would have been a hive of activity with naval vessels involved in this coastal defence. In addition many other ships used the port as part of the Packet Service distributing mail throughout the empire. The foreground staffage portrays sailors on shore leave with wives and sweethearts engaged in boisterous merrymaking to the strains of a peg-legged fiddler.
The original of this print is in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight.