J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Harbour 1818

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 12 Recto:
A Harbour 1818
D13471
Turner Bequest CLXVI 12
Pencil on white wove paper, 90 x 112 mm
Stamped in black ‘CLXVI 12’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
In addition to the continuation of a drawing of cliffs on folio 11 verso (D13470), there are two further drawings on this page. The uppermost sketch shows a harbour with a sailing vessel just mooring up; its sail still raised but loose in the wind as it is being lowered. Behind is a building with two gables that resembles a building in several sketches of Dunbar Harbour, suggesting this as a possible location (see folios 18 verso–19; D13484–D13485). However, drawings on nearby pages of the sketchbook are of North Shields, suggesting that this may be the location (see folio 13; D13473).
On the quayside to the right of the vessel are several vertical lines indicating a group of figures, and what may be a cart piled high or covered over with a tarpaulin. The sketch beneath of several houses and a row of trees has a similar character to the landscape above and is likely to be nearby.
A small tear at the centre right edge of the page has been repaired.

Thomas Ardill
August 2009

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘A Harbour 1818 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, August 2009, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-harbour-r1132016, accessed 25 April 2024.