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 ... > Mortlake and Pulborough Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner The London Bridge Foundation Stone Ceremony: Inside the Marquee, with a Block and Tackle, the Stone and Spectators 1825

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The London Bridge Foundation Stone Ceremony: Inside the Marquee, with a Block and Tackle, the Stone and Spectators’ 1825
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 75 Verso:
The London Bridge Foundation Stone Ceremony: Inside the Marquee, with a Block and Tackle, the Stone and Spectators 1825
D18812
Turner Bequest CCXIII 75a
Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 187 mm
Inscribed in pencil ‘[?VB...]’ towards top right, and ‘[?WB]’ centre left
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This view in steep perspective is from the upper level of the marquee erected over the coffer-dam around the site of the southernmost pier of the new London Bridge, for the foundation stone ceremony held on the riverbed on 15 June 1825. There are indications of crowds of spectators around the central arena, focusing on the block and tackle supporting the stone which was lowered into place.
This is one of a sequence of hurried sketches, apparently made in the course of the ceremony, working backwards through the book between folios 78 verso (D18818) and 71 verso (D18804). The event and other studies relating to it at the beginning and end of this sketchbook are discussed in the Introduction.
Technical notes:
A tear to the outer edge towards the bottom left has been repaired.

Matthew Imms
December 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘The London Bridge Foundation Stone Ceremony: Inside the Marquee, with a Block and Tackle, the Stone and Spectators 1825 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-the-london-bridge-foundation-stone-ceremony-inside-the-r1172934, accessed 20 September 2024.