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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Figures on a Beach c.1826-45 > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Figures with an Invalid in a Bath Chair, Perhaps at the Seaside c.1826-40

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Figures with an Invalid in a Bath Chair, Perhaps at the Seaside’ c.1826-40
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Figures with an Invalid in a Bath Chair, Perhaps at the Seaside c.1826–40
D24931
Turner Bequest CCLX 95
Black and white chalks on blue wove paper, 136 x 195 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right
Inscribed in red ink ‘95’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLX 95’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
A man in white trousers with an umbrella appears to be addressing a man seated in an elevated bath chair, with a woman and children at his side. They are perhaps taking the air by the sea (see the Introduction for other examples of such recreational scenes). Compare the woman being pulled by two boys in a lower chair in Tate D24936 (Turner Bequest CCLX 100).
Verso:
Blank; inscribed by John Ruskin in pencil ‘52 | O’ bottom right (partly obscured); inscribed in pencil ‘D24931’ bottom centre.
There is a border of white paper or tape, with more paper adhering, indicating that the sheet was formerly mounted.

Matthew Imms
December 2015

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Figures with an Invalid in a Bath Chair, Perhaps at the Seaside c.1826–40 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 2015, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-figures-with-an-invalid-in-a-bath-chair-perhaps-at-the-r1182583, accessed 24 April 2024.