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 ?Richmond Hill from the River Thames c.1823-4

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?Richmond Hill from the River Thames’ c.1823-4
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 32 Verso:
?Richmond Hill from the River Thames c.1823–4
D17815
Turner Bequest CCIV 32a
Pencil on white wove paper, 111 x 190 mm
Part watermark ‘R Bar | 18’
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[?Da...]’ bottom left
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, this sketch of cattle on a riverbank with buildings above was identified by Finberg as a view of Windsor Castle,1 a frequent subject,2 but the skyline is perhaps more reminiscent of Richmond Hill from the west; compare another likely view on folio 9 recto (D17785), and the detailed depiction in the 1805 Studies for Pictures: Isleworth sketchbook (Tate D05514; Turner Bequest XC 18).
Finberg interpreted an inscription on another page as ‘Windsor’ (folio 18 verso; D17796), but this too seems doubtful. For other Thames views, see under folio 2 recto (D17775).
1
Finberg 1909, I, p.619.
2
See for instance David Hill, Turner on the Thames: River Journeys in the Year 1805, New Haven and London 1993, pp.63–75.
Technical notes:
A short tear to the outer edge has been repaired.

Matthew Imms
November 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘?Richmond Hill from the River Thames 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-richmond-hill-from-the-river-thames-r1172523, accessed 20 April 2024.