FAMAG 2006.10.10
Turner, Joseph Mallord William RA (1775-1851): Mount St. Michael, Cornwall, engraver: Fisher, Samuel, dated 1838, inscribed St. Michael's Mount, 204, 3295, Volume 3 in pencil, Line engraving, Part XXIV No.4, R304, 23.5 x 42.5 cms.
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Picturesque Views in England and Wales
1825-1838
Preliminary 'open' etchings such as this represented the first stage in the preparation of a print. For further details see the section 'Turner and printmaking in the early nineteenth century'. One of several versions of this iconic subject Turner drew and painted between 1811 and 1838. Again we see the artist influenced by the mountainous geography of his beloved Switzerland, increasing the island's height somewhat beyond its actual 248 feet. There is evidence that in c.350 BC Cornish tin was traded from here with enterprising Phoenicians before deposits of the rare metal were discovered in Cyprus. Once a Benedictine priory then a castle, in Turner's time this tiny island port sustained a population of over four hundred inhabitants. As a by-product of unlicensed salvage the sale of wrecked timber was widespread throughout Cornwall. The foreground shows figures dismantling the hulk of a small boat's hull before transporting the bundles on mules along the back of the beach. Note the rudder and barrel in the forefront of the composition. The original watercolour has cascading sheets of rain and dazzling beams of light breaking over Marazion . But at this stage one can see how the sky has been completely omitted pending the engraver's burin.
The original for this work is in the University of Liverpool.