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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > History Painting c.1799-1807 > Calais Pier Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Fishing Boat in a Strong Wind c.1802

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Fishing Boat in a Strong Wind’ c.1802
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 77 Recto:
A Fishing Boat in a Strong Wind c.1802
D05053
Turner Bequest LXXXI 151
Pen and brown ink on blue laid paper, 271 x 436 mm
Watermarks ‘1794’ and ‘VI’
Inscribed in red ink by John Ruskin ‘151’ top right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘LXXXI–151’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The drawing was made with the page turned horizontally; at the gutter is a continuation of similar studies on folio 76 verso opposite (D05052; Turner Bequest LXXXI 150). Martin Butlin has described this1 as the only study in the sketchbook directly related to the painting Calais Pier of 1803 Calais Pier, with French Poissards Preparing for Sea: An English Packet Arriving, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1803 (National Gallery, London):2 it shows the central vessel with sunlit sails. But see also folios 30 verso–31 recto, 52 verso–53 recto and 74 verso (D04960–D04961, D05004–D05005, D05048; Turner Bequest LXXXI 58–59, 102–103, 146).

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

1
Butlin in Butlin, Wilton and Gage 1974, p.50.
2
Butlin and Joll 1984, pp.37–8 no.48, pl.58 (colour).

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘A Fishing Boat in a Strong Wind c.1802 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-fishing-boat-in-a-strong-wind-r1178257, accessed 09 September 2025.