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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > History Painting c.1799-1807 > Studies for Pictures Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Group of Ships at Sea c.1799-1802

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Group of Ships at Sea’ c.1799-1802
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 90 Recto:
A Group of Ships at Sea c.1799–1802
D04105
Turner Bequest LXIX 91
Ink and white chalk on blue laid paper, 135 x 210 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘91’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘LXIX-91’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Drawn with the page turned horizontally, this is one of several sketches in this book associated with the evolution of Ships Bearing Up for Anchorage (‘The Egremont Seapiece’) of 1802 (Tate T03868, on display at Petworth House, Sussex);1 others are on the rectos of folios 29, 30, 31 and 32 (D04023–D04026), and folio 89 recto (D04104; Turner Bequest LXIX 90). Here the layout of the final composition is clearly adumbrated, with a cluster of ships superimposed at the right, and a three-master seen broadside on at the left. There are studies relating to the three-master on folios 39 verso, 40 verso and 41 verso (D04041, D04043, D04045).
1
Butlin and Joll 1984, p.17 no.18, pl.14 (colour).
Verso:
Blank; inscribed in pencil ‘766’.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘A Group of Ships at Sea c.1799–1802 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-group-of-ships-at-sea-r1177983, accessed 19 April 2024.