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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Scene with Shipping, Perhaps with Buildings Beyond c.1830-45

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
A Scene with Shipping, Perhaps with Buildings Beyond c.1830–45
D34932
Turner Bequest CCCXLIV 434
Pencil and ink wash on off-white card, 39 x 77 mm
Printed in black ‘Mr,, J.M.W. Turner,’ at centre, and ‘47, Queen Ann Street, Harley Street.’ at bottom
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[...]’ towards bottom left and ‘[...]’ towards bottom right
Inscribed in red ink ‘43[?1]’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This rough pencil study is one of ten small drawings on nine printed visiting cards or blanks (Tate D34929–D34939; Turner Bequest CCCXLIV 431–439), all apart from D34929 being rapid permutations of the classical architectural and seaport motifs of Claude Lorrain, a consistent influence on Turner (see the Introduction to this subsection). For general comments and dating, see under D34929.
This example is drawn over Turner’s own printed name and long-standing central London address. Compare Tate D34937 (Turner Bequest CCCXLIV 437v), the printed card of a fellow artist.
There is another drawing with shipping on the verso (Tate D34933; Turner Bequest CCCXLIV 434v).

Matthew Imms
August 2016

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A Scene with Shipping, Perhaps with Buildings Beyond c.1830–45 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, August 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, March 2017, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-scene-with-shipping-perhaps-with-buildings-beyond-r1185736, accessed 17 May 2024.