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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Scotland 1831 > Berwick Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Sketches of Figures in Fancy Costume 1831

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Sketches of Figures in Fancy Costume’ 1831
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 44 Recto:
Sketches of Figures in Fancy Costume 1831
D25722
Turner Bequest CCLXV 44
Pencil on white wove paper, 59 x 96 mm
Inscribed in red ink by John Ruskin ‘44’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLXV 44’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Across this page and folio 43 verso (D25721) is a study of figures in elaborate, perhaps fancy-dress costume. Nearly a dozen figures wear a variety of outfits which include robes, jackets, cloaks, sashes or belts and various hats. A couple of lines at the left of the present page suggest a door, indicating that this is an internal setting, perhaps some sort of special event such as a ball or ceremony.
There are a number of sketches of figures in costumes scattered throughout the notebook (see folio 57; D25745 for references).

Thomas Ardill
September 2009

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Sketches of Figures in Fancy Costume 1831 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 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-sketches-of-figures-in-fancy-costume-r1134086, accessed 19 September 2024.