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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Thames, London and South of England 1821 ... > River Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Barges or House Boats c.1823-4

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Barges or House Boats’ c.1823-4
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 5 Recto:
Barges or House Boats c.1823–4
D17779
Turner Bequest CCIV 5
Pencil on white wove paper, 111 x 190 mm
Part watermark ‘nard | 20’
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘5’ bottom right (now very faint)
Stamped in black ‘CCIV – 5’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
There are faint indications of a wooded hillside beyond the boat on the right, but otherwise little immediate context. The waterline of the boat on the left is indicated at a slightly higher level, indicating that the two studies are independent. Each boat or barge has a similar awning on a framework attached to a small cabin, and it seems likely that the studies are actually of the same craft from different angles. Turner may have observed the subject on the River Thames west of London; compare the oil sketch of Barge on the River, Sunset, from the mid 1800s (Tate N02707).1
For other London and Thames views, see under folio 2 recto (D17775).
1
Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, revised ed., New Haven and London 1984, p.118 no.168, pl.168 (colour).
Verso:
Blank

Matthew Imms
November 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Barges or House Boats c.1823–4 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, November 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-barges-or-house-boats-r1172487, accessed 09 May 2024.