'Men Loading a Boat with Grass', Joseph Mallord William Turner

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

Men Loading a Boat with Grass

From Perspective Sketchbook

Turner Bequest CVIII

Date c.1809

MediumPen and ink on paper

Dimensionssupport: 88 x 115 mm

Collection

Tate

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

Reference

D07355

Turner Bequest CVIII 1

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

Turner's sketchbooks

View this artwork in the Perspective Sketchbook

Catalogue entry

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851

Folio 1 Recto:

Men Loading a Boat with Grass circa 1809

D07355
Turner Bequest CVIII 1

Pen and ink on white wove paper, 88 x 115 mm
Inscribed by Turner in ink ‘Men Loading a Boat with Grass [?made for Sp...]’ bottom edge
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘1’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CVIII – 1’ bottom right

Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

References

The significance of the subject is unclear; Turner presumably observed the scene. The last word is possibly ‘sprue’, a form of asparagus. There are pencil drawings of figures and boats later in the sketchbook, on folios 6 recto, 8 verso, 9 verso, 10 verso and 11 verso (D07365, D07369, D07371, D07373, D07375).

Technical notes:

There is some brown staining to the sheet.

Matthew Imms
June 2008

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.