Joseph Mallord William Turner

Engraved:
Etching, aquatint and mezzotint by Turner and F.C. Lewis, untitled, published Turner, 23 April 1812 (see main catalogue entry)

The present work is an impression of Turner’s outline Liber Studiorum etching with washes added by him as a fuller guide for F.C. Lewis’s tonal aquatint and mezzotint work; the original drawing (Tate D08146; Turner Bequest CXVII R), being one of the earliest Liber studies, is somewhat tentative and was considered by Lewis not to constitute a sufficiently specific template. (See entry on the drawing for a full discussion of the composition, the present sheet’s function in the progression from the drawing to the published plate, and publication details.)

Technical notes:

Fine ink lines have been used for additional work on the goats, figures and foreground foliage, with heavy inked lines use for the trees, thickening the central trunk of the main group, and hatching used to darken them and show recession. The ink includes umber and medium/coarse ivory black pigments. Fingers were used to work the watercolour (a print is evident on the widest pier of the bridge). The overall colour is a cool brown.1

Verso:

Blank, save for inscriptions.

Inscribed in pencil ‘S’ centre left, and [...] (possibly letters) centre right
Stamped in black ‘[crown] | N•G | CXVII – S’ bottom left