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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Liber Studiorum notes c.1807-19 > Liber Notes (2) Sketchbook [Finberg CLIV ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Study of a ?Guards Officer's Uniform c.1817-18

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study of a ?Guards Officer's Uniform’ c.1817-18
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 66 Recto:
Study of a ?Guards Officer’s Uniform c.1817–18
D12215
Turner Bequest CLIV a 65
Pencil on white wove paper, 112 x 89 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[?Gloves the thing]’ towards top right and ‘Red [?strip]’ centre left
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘65’ top right, ascending vertically (smudged)
Stamped in black ‘CLIV (a) – 65’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the page turned vertically, a uniform and helmet rather than their wearer are the subject of Turner’s study. He records a plumed, peaked helmet, gauntlets and a sabretache (the flat, square satchel suspended on straps), apparently those of a British Guards cavalry officer.1 There are related studies on folio 67 recto (D12217; Turner Bequest CLIV a 66). Turner’s interest is likely to have been connected with the battle of Waterloo (1815), which he depicted shortly after visiting the battlefield in 1817. For further discussion and related subjects in this sketchbook, see under folio 1 recto (D12124).
There are similar studies of uniforms and equipment scattered through the Guards sketchbook between Tate D13272 and D13308 (Turner Bequest CLXIV 24a, 52a).

Matthew Imms
September 2013

1
Compare for instance images at ‘The Battle of Waterloo uniforms, arms, equipment and training’, British Battles, accessed 22 August 2013, http://www.britishbattles.com/waterloo/waterloo-army-uniform.htm.

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Study of a ?Guards Officer’s Uniform c.1817–18 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-study-of-a-guards-officers-uniform-r1147632, accessed 26 April 2024.