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 ... > London Bridge and Portsmouth Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Shipping in Portsmouth Harbour ?1824

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Shipping in Portsmouth Harbour’ ?1824
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 13 Verso:
Shipping in Portsmouth Harbour ?1824
D17938
Turner Bequest CCVI 13a
Pencil on white wove paper, 160 x 100 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Sky the only Light | and Colour’ top right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the page turned vertically, there are sketches in seven bands here, with warships and hulks and sailing boats in various combination with waterside buildings, presumably in Portsmouth Harbour. Towards the bottom may be the Square Tower semaphore station.
This is one of a continuous series of views around Portsmouth between folios 1 recto and 20 recto (D17913–D17951); many appear to have been made from a boat; for the overall sequence and details of the most prominent buildings and defences, see the Introduction.

Matthew Imms
December 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Shipping in Portsmouth Harbour ?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-shipping-in-portsmouth-harbour-r1172655, accessed 09 May 2024.