Joseph Mallord William Turner

Sailing Boats at Portsmouth

1844

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Louis-Philippe at Portsmouth sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 74 × 116 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D35719
Turner Bequest CCCLXII 19

Catalogue entry

Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, this slight drawing shows small sailing boats, apparently with the masts and spars of a larger vessel beyond to the left. Like the other rapid sketches in this book this presumably relates to the arrival of Louis-Philippe, King of the French, at Portsmouth Harbour on 8 October 1844, as discussed in the Introductions to the sketchbook and the overall section.
The blank recto is inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘19’ and stamped in black ‘CCCLXII – 19’ at the bottom right. For numerous instances of blank, unaccessioned rectos in this sketchbook, see the technical notes in the Introduction.

Matthew Imms
September 2016

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