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 ... > Old London Bridge Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Sailing Barges in the Pool of London below Old London Bridge, with St Paul's Cathedral Beyond ?1824

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Sailing Barges in the Pool of London below Old London Bridge, with St Paul's Cathedral Beyond’ ?1824
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 12 Recto:
Sailing Barges in the Pool of London below Old London Bridge, with St Paul’s Cathedral Beyond ?1824
D17856
Turner Bequest CCV 12
Pencil on white wove paper, 98 x 162 mm
Part watermark ‘lls | 1’
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘12’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCV – 12’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The main focus of this study is the shipping in the foreground, including what seem to be Thames barges under full sail. Faintly sketched in the distance up-river to the west are the arches of London Bridge, the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral and the tower of St Magnus the Martyr’s Church, apparently with a very slight indication of the Monument beside it.
More than half the drawings in this sketchbook show the River Thames around Old London Bridge, and are likely to date from 1824; see the Introduction.

Matthew Imms
December 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Sailing Barges in the Pool of London below Old London Bridge, with St Paul’s Cathedral Beyond ?1824 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 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-sailing-barges-in-the-pool-of-london-below-old-london-bridge-r1172567, accessed 18 April 2024.