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

The sketch shows part of the wooden panelling around the fireplace in the Oak Room at Farnley Hall. Two heraldic shields are indicated in the arched bays, with a further two above. Turner also made a rough sketch of the whole room, with the fireplace on the right on folios 74 verso–75 recto (D09770–D09771) and a variant study of the fireplace on folio 76 verso (D09774).

There are discrepancies between the two drawings of the fireplace, and further inconsistencies compared with Turner’s finished gouache view of the room (private collection),1 where an additional band of panelling appears immediately above the fireplace opening. In the present drawing Turner shows three arched panels above his main drawing, but only two are shown in the finished view. The diagrammatic elements above appear to relate to the floor plan of the fireplace wall and perhaps also indicate sections of moulding; see under D09770 for further discussion on this issue.