Joseph Mallord William Turner

Inscription not by Turner: The Artist’s Name and Address

c.1827–8

Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported)

License this image

In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment
Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Studies for ‘Dido Directing the Equipment of the Fleet’
Medium
Pen and ink on paper
Dimensions
Support: 190 × 230 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D40448

Catalogue entry

The brief form of the address and the lack of postmarks indicate that this sheet originally served as the envelope for a local, hand-delivered letter. It forms the verso of Tate D34861 (Turner Bequest CCCXLIV 372), a compositional study datable to late 1827 or early 1828.
Technical notes:
There are parallel vertical and horizontal folds resulting from the sheet’s original function as an envelope, as noted above; a piece was torn away at the centre of the top edge where it was prised open from the wax seal which survives below. There are other small holes along the creases.

Matthew Imms
July 2016

Read full Catalogue entry

You might like

Left Right