J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?Amateur Theatricals in Petworth Park 1827

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?Amateur Theatricals in Petworth Park’ 1827
?Amateur Theatricals in Petworth Park 1827
D22707
Turner Bequest CCXLIV 45
Gouache and watercolour on blue wove paper, 140 x 190 mm
Stamped in black ‘CCXLIV 45’ bottom right
Inscribed in red ink (now illegible, but presumably with ‘45’) bottom right
Blind stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This is one of a large group of separate studies, most of which were made in gouache and watercolour on blue paper, associated with a visit to Petworth House in West Sussex, the home of the third Earl of Egremont. For more information, see the Introduction to this section.
It has been suggested that this study shows amateur theatricals, perhaps in Petworth Park.1 The art historian Ian Warrell has noted that the park was something of a village meeting ground, with Lord Egremont allowing various different activities to take place.2 Although the study is very loosely painted with watercolour and gouache, Turner’s marks appear broadly suggestive of a stage, in addition to numerous figures.
1
See Butlin, Luther and Warrell 1989, p.147.
2
Ibid, p.147.
Verso:
Blank, save for inscriptions: written in pencil ‘17 | c’ near centre; written in pencil ‘CCXLIV 45’ bottom centre; written in pencil ‘235 | o’ bottom right; written in pencil ‘95’ bottom left; stamped in black with the Turner Bequest monogram and ‘CCXLIV 45’ bottom left.

Elizabeth Jacklin
February 2019

How to cite

Elizabeth Jacklin, ‘?Amateur Theatricals in Petworth Park 1827’, catalogue entry, February 2019, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2024, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/amateur-theatricals-in-petworth-park-r1209136, accessed 25 May 2026.