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

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

Joseph Mallord William Turner Antwerp: Quayside, Houses and Sailing Vessels 1817

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Antwerp: Quayside, Houses and Sailing Vessels’ 1817
Folio 16 Recto:
Antwerp: Quayside, Houses and Sailing Vessels 1817
D12730
Turner Bequest CLX 16
Pencil on white wove paper, 150 x 94 mm
Partial ‘J Whatman | 1816’ watermark
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Anvers’ top right, ‘g’ and ‘w’ bottom left on sail, and ‘g’ and ‘Lake’ right of centre on sail
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘258’ bottom right, and ‘16’ top right
Stamped in black ‘CLX – 16’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
For Antwerp in this sketchbook, drawn on 2 or 3 September during Turner’s homeward journey in 1817, see notes to folio 15 verso opposite (D12729). Here he has drawn barges and boats crowded alongside a quay. The location cannot be identified precisely, as quays extended along the Scheldt and into numerous small canals and harbours, many of which were filled in later in the century. Gabled buildings such as those drawn here are typical of Antwerp.

Quirine van der Meer Mohr
December 2013

Revised by David Blayney Brown
June 2025

How to cite

Quirine van der Meer Mohr, ‘Antwerp: Quayside, Houses and Sailing Vessels 1817’, catalogue entry, December 2013, revised by David Blayney Brown, June 2025, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, June 2026, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/antwerp-quayside-houses-and-sailing-vessels-r1212098, accessed 31 July 2026.