'A Diagram', Joseph Mallord William Turner

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

A Diagram

From Vale of Heathfield Sketchbook

Turner Bequest CXXXVII

Date c.1810-16

MediumGraphite on paper

Dimensionssupport: 181 x 228 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

Reference

D10208

Turner Bequest CXXXVII 2 a

View this artwork by appointment, at Tate Britain's Prints and Drawings Rooms

Turner's sketchbooks

View this artwork in the Vale of Heathfield Sketchbook

Catalogue entry

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851

Folio 2 Verso:

A Diagram circa 1810–16

D10208
Turner Bequest CXXXVII 2a

Pencil on white wove paper, 181 x 228 mm

Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

References

The meaning of this diagram, which incorporates a circle, is unclear. However it seems to represent some kind of instrument, possibly part of a camera obscura. One was installed in John Fuller’s Observatory near Rosehill (now Brightling) Park, which Turner drew in this sketchbook (folios 37 verso–38; D10254–D10255; Turner Bequest CXXXVII 36a–37).

On the back cover (D41535) there is a slight sketch which may also be the beginning of a diagram, although it does not appear to be related to the present sketch.

Technical notes:

A small hole half-way down the left-hand edge seems to relate to a former means of fastening the front cover of the sketchbook (see under D40864).

David Blayney Brown
March 2011

Read this catalogue entry in full

This catalogue entry is part of: David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, December 2012.