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

Turning the sketchbook vertically, Turner produced this rough study of a figure group, outlining aspects of their dress and headwear. They are likely shown at work, although the activity underway is unclear from Turner’s cursory sketch. As proposed by Maurice Guillaud, they are likely French peasants.1 Beneath, inverted relative to the figure group above, is an animal initially identified by Finberg as a horse, but which more closely resembles a donkey with a saddle, as noted by Guillaud.2