Joseph Mallord William Turner

The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: ?The ‘Gomer’ Moored beside Steps in Portsmouth Harbour

1844

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 Relating to the Arrival of Louis-Philippe, King of the French, at Portsmouth Harbour
Medium
Watercolour on paper
Dimensions
Support: 227 x 291 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D35959
Turner Bequest CCCLXIV 116

Catalogue entry

Like the other works grouped here, this appears to relate to the arrival of Louis-Philippe, King of the French, at Portsmouth Harbour on 8 October 1844, as discussed in the Introductions to this subsection and the overall section.1 David Brown noted it as showing ‘a steamer moored alongside a quay’, which Robert Upstone has declared ‘clearly identifiable’ as the Gomer, the King’s large and distinctive hybrid sail-steamship. Compare Tate D35981 (Turner Bequest CCCLXIV 138), where it is surrounded by small boats.
The zig-zag diagonal steps towards the right are consistent with those shown in the detailed 1846 painting Débarquement de Louis-Philippe à Portsmouth, le 8 octobre 1844 by Eugène Isabey (1803–1886; Château de Versailles), where they apparently rise from a pontoon. Very slight drawings in the Louis-Philippe at Portsmouth sketchbook seem to show the same arrangement (Tate D35695, D35704; Turner Bequest CCCLXII 6a, 11). The presence of gunports, longboats stowed at deck level and the semi-circular outline of what is probably the white paddle-wheel housing to the right of the steps are all in accord with Isabey’s depiction. The loosely defined red forms in the foreground may be carriages, while the shadowy shapes at the bottom left may be figures in small boats.
Ian Warrell has questioned the connection with other Louis-Phillipe sheets here, which are all of a slightly larger size (see the Introduction to this subsection), suggesting that stitch holes at the edge may mean this work originated in a sketchbook ‘like those used in Switzerland around 1841–3’ such as the 1841 Fribourg, Lausanne and Geneva book (Tate; Turner Bequest CCCXXXII), with the subject perhaps a steamer on a Swiss lake, the English Channel or the Rhine.2 While bearing this in mind, the muted palette and sparse handling do not appear inconsistent with the other Portsmouth scenes, while the details noted above, particularly the apparent gunports, would seem to make the Gomer the most likely subject pending a specific alternative, and the connection has been retained here. The ink number inscribed on the verso may be another indication that this slightly anomalous sheet belongs with the others.
1
See also Upstone 1993, p.52, Warrell 2013, p.9, and Smiles 2014, p.168.
2
Warrell 2013, p.15 note 24.

Matthew Imms
September 2016

Read full Catalogue entry

Explore

You might like

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: ?The ‘Gomer’ near the Mouth of Portsmouth Harbour’ 1844

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: ?The ‘Gomer’ near the Mouth of Portsmouth Harbour

1844
View by appointment D35899
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: Boats Going Out to his Ship, the ‘Gomer’, in Portsmouth Harbour’ 1844

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: Boats Going Out to his Ship, the ‘Gomer’, in Portsmouth Harbour

1844
View by appointment D35957
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: Shipping with Bunting in Portsmouth Harbour’ 1844

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: Shipping with Bunting in Portsmouth Harbour

1844
View by appointment D35958
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: Shipping in Portsmouth Harbour’ 1844

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: Shipping in Portsmouth Harbour

1844
View by appointment D34961
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: The ‘Gomer’ in Portsmouth Harbour’ 1844

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: The ‘Gomer’ in Portsmouth Harbour

1844
D35981
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: ?The Waterfront of Portsmouth Harbour with Figures and Bunting’ 1844

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: ?The Waterfront of Portsmouth Harbour with Figures and Bunting

1844
View by appointment D35952
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: Ships with Bunting in Portsmouth Harbour, with Figures in Boats Possibly Approaching the ‘Gomer’’ 1844

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: Ships with Bunting in Portsmouth Harbour, with Figures in Boats Possibly Approaching the ‘Gomer’

1844
View by appointment D35942
William Joy, John Cantiloe Joy, ‘Louis Philippe, King of the French, Arriving at Portsmouth’ 1844

William Joy, John Cantiloe Joy Louis Philippe, King of the French, Arriving at Portsmouth

1844
View by appointment T12425
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Shipping in Portsmouth Harbour’ ?1824

Joseph Mallord William Turner Shipping in Portsmouth Harbour

?1824
View by appointment D17932
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: Portsmouth Harbour with Distant Shipping’ 1844

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: Portsmouth Harbour with Distant Shipping

1844
View by appointment D35954
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Shipping in Portsmouth Harbour’ ?1824

Joseph Mallord William Turner Shipping in Portsmouth Harbour

?1824
View by appointment D17933
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Warships in Portsmouth Harbour; Portchester Castle from the South-East’ ?1824

Joseph Mallord William Turner Warships in Portsmouth Harbour; Portchester Castle from the South-East

?1824
View by appointment D17934
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: Shipping in Portsmouth Harbour’ 1844

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: Shipping in Portsmouth Harbour

1844
View by appointment D35951
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Arrival of Louis-Philippe at the Royal Clarence Yard, Gosport, 8 October 1844’ c.1844–5

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Arrival of Louis-Philippe at the Royal Clarence Yard, Gosport, 8 October 1844

c.1844–5
N02068
after Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Gosport, Entrance to Portsmouth Harbour’ 1831

After Joseph Mallord William Turner Gosport, Entrance to Portsmouth Harbour

1831
View by appointment T04575