J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

Here Turner pictures a fleet of three riverboats, manned with crew and laden with cargo, navigating the Rhine towards a pontoon bridge at Koblenz. The artist leaves much of the page bare, drawing only a few waterfront buildings at left and a line of dashes in the middle distance to represent the bridge of boats. His primary focus is the vessels sailing the Rhine, the largest of which bears resemblance to the sort of passenger boats which plied up and down that river regularly, transporting locals and tourists alike (see Tate D28611; Turner Bequest CCXCI 38a). The two smaller craft tailing the barge appear to be carrying hefty freight covered with canopies.

More sketches of Koblenz can be found in this book on Tate D19818–D19824, D19826–D19830; Turner Bequest CCXVI 134–137, 138–140.