Joseph Mallord William Turner

‘The Black Boat’; Vignette Study for the Boat in ‘The Andes Coast’ for Campbell’s ‘Poetical Works’

c.1835–6

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of: Watercolours Related to The Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell
Medium: Watercolour on paper
Dimensions: Support: 214 × 280 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D27726
Turner Bequest CCLXXX 209

Display caption

During the 1820s and 1830s Turner provided twenty small-scale vignette illustrations for an edition of Thomas Campbell’s Poetical Works 1837. This watercolour is a study for a finished design which accompanies part of the poem The Pleasures of Hope.

The poem uses the metaphor of a beleaguered ship at sea guided by a star as a symbol of hope:

‘Rocks, waves, and winds the shatter’d bark delay-

Thy heart is sad, thy home is far away.

But Hope can here her moonlight vigils keep,

And sing to charm the spirit of the deep.’

Gallery label, July 2008

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