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 A Coffer-Dam and Construction Work above Old London Bridge 1824

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Coffer-Dam and Construction Work above Old London Bridge’ 1824
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 25 Recto:
A Coffer-Dam and Construction Work above Old London Bridge 1824
D17960
Turner Bequest CCVI 25
Pencil on white wove paper, 160 x 100 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘25’ top right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCVI – 25’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the page turned vertically, there are two slight studies here of Old London Bridge looking east from upstream, indicating ongoing construction work on the coffer-dams out of which the piers of the bridge’s replacement would rise. An outline of one of the dams is seen in the lower view. Work had begun in March 1824, as discussed under folio 22 recto (D17954), and Turner seems to have taken the opportunity to revisit the works on 9 November, Lord Mayor’s Day; see also folios 23 recto and 23 verso–24 recto (D17956–D17958).
As well Old London Bridge, the drawings between folios 20 verso and 34 verso (D40967, D17979) include rapid studies and notes of barges, flags, costumes and bridges along the River Thames, and appear to record or relate to that occasion, as discussed in the sketchbook’s Introduction.

Matthew Imms
December 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A Coffer-Dam and Construction Work above Old London Bridge 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-a-coffer-dam-and-construction-work-above-old-london-bridge-r1172678, accessed 19 April 2024.