The upper half of the page is inscribed in pen and brown ink:
1801 March 19th s d
Large Bladder White 1 ’ – –
hog hair Brush ––– – ’ 8
X Large Varnish Brush X 1 ’ 6
Bladder Rn Ocker ––– – ” 6
6 hard lead pencils ––– 2 –
March 30 Bladder Colours – 1 " 6
1 of Antwerp Bo Gd in Spt 3 " –
Apl 4th ½ Pint EW Turps – 1 – –
Rcd – for J Newman £ ” 11 ” 2
___[?J] Brown________________
‘
Not sent’ is inscribed in ink, probably by Turner, to the left of the fourth line, on folio 5 verso opposite (
D40807); the ‘X’s marking the entry for the varnish brush are perhaps also his. Otherwise the hand, including the signature on the last line, appears consistent.
This inventory of artists’ materials and the sums paid for them is continued on folio 41 verso (
D03777), where much of the list is in the same hand. The ‘J Newman’ referred to here is perhaps the prominent artists’ colourman James Newman (c.1757–1835) who had set up his business at 17 Gerrard Street, London, by 1784, first as a maker of ‘pencils’ (artists’ brushes), and soon afterwards as a dealer in artists’ pigments. Various other colourmen named Newman are recorded in London and its immediate environs during Turner’s lifetime, but it seems likely that Turner patronised James, with premises close to his home in Covent Garden.
