Joseph Mallord William Turner

Figures on the Beach at Teignmouth

1811

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Not on display

Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of: Devonshire Coast, No.1 Sketchbook
Medium: Graphite on paper
Dimensions: Support: 75 × 117 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D08499
Turner Bequest CXXIII 68 a

Catalogue entry

The shapes on the left appear to be horses or donkeys with panniers by a beached boat. There are about ten figures gathered on the right but their identities and activities are unclear.

Teignmouth, on the Devon coast between Exmouth and Torquay, is mentioned in Turner’s poetry on folio 164 verso (Tate D08670; Turner Bequest CXXIII 161a). For further views, some less certainly identified than others, see folio 72 recto opposite (D08500; CXXIII 69), and folios 72 verso, 75 verso, 87 verso, 89 recto, 91 recto and verso, 92 recto and 242 verso (D08501, D08507, D08528, D08531, D08535–D08537, D08789; CXXIII 69a, 72a, 84a, 86, 88, 88a, 89, 239v).

Probably in preparation for his 1811 tour, Turner made historical and architectural notes on Teignmouth and its surroundings from a recent edition of John Feltham’s Guide to All the Watering and Sea-Bathing Places in the Vale of Heathfield sketchbook (Tate D10206; Turner Bequest CXXXVII 1).

Matthew Imms
June 2011

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