The left-hand side of the page is taken up with the following notes in pencil:
Sr Henry Mildmay 21
Marquis of Lorne 21
Earl of Essex 10.10
H Mr Lacelles 5 5
{ Mr [?Meredith] – –
{ Mr Jones of Lewisham
{ Mr Davis. do
{ Miss Palin
{ Miss Hawkins
{ Mr Gould
{ [?Barnet] –
Mr Munden 2 1 6
[?Cutler] 10 10
Mr Landseer -
Colwell Hermitage Old House
<...> Farm
Mr Walker [?of] X
Rosamonds Row -
The names in the fifth and sixth lines are linked by a single curly bracket, as are the next five; Turner has written ‘Teaching’ to the left of the brackets, ascending vertically. Finberg reads what may be ‘Cutler’ as ‘Caller’, and the word crossed through before ‘Farm’ as ‘Chale’.
A second column at the top right comprises only two lines:
Mr Beckford for the P
Plague of Egypt -
Sir Henry Mildmay (1746–1808) probably bought, and, on the evidence of this entry may have commissioned, Turner’s picture of
Fishermen Coming Ashore at Sunset, previous to a Gale, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1797 (344; currently untraced).
1 It is generally referred to as ‘The Mildmay Sea-piece’ and is recorded in a plate later produced for Turner’s
Liber Studiorum in 1812.
2 ‘Mr Beckford’ is William Beckford (1760–1844), for whom Turner made several watercolour views of Fonthill in the later 1790s, and who bought his picture of
The Fifth Plague of Egypt (Indianapolis Museum of Art)
3 from the Royal Academy exhibition in 1799.
Most of the other names on Turner’s list are those of patrons who had commissioned watercolours, or of pupils taking lessons in watercolour from him (see note on the inscription inside front cover,
D40756). The Hon. Edward Lascelles (1764–1814) was both pupil and patron.
4 ‘Mr Landseer’ is presumably John Landseer (1769–1852), an engraver and print publisher with whom Turner worked on a set of views in the Isle of Wight.
5 He visited the island later in 1795; see the
Isle of Wight sketchbook (Tate; Turner Bequest XXIV).
As Finberg suggested,
6 these notes seem to belong to a date rather later in the decade than 1795. In his
Inventory he gave the fifth name on the list as ‘Mr Murwith’, qualifying it with a query; it is difficult to make out. He later proposed
7 that it should be read ‘Mr J Harwick’ mentioned in an inscription. For ‘Mr Davis’ of Lewisham, compare the reference to ‘Miss Elizabeth Davies, Lewisham, Kent’ on the verso of a pupil’s copy-drawing (Tate
D00868; Turner Bequest XXXII L).
