Joseph Mallord William Turner

Turner has used this page for swift thumbnail sketches of figures and other details of contemporary everyday life. The sheet includes studies of men and women in varying types of costume, while at the bottom are several drawings of carts or wagons and people carrying large baskets on their backs. An inscription near the upper right-hand corner indicates that the artist observed these features at ‘Turin’ and the page is further annotated with notes concerning the colour and appearance of local dress. There are a number of similar groups of sketches within this sketchbook, see for example folios 13 verso–14 (D16666–D16667).