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 > On a Lee Shore (2) Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Rowing Boat in a Choppy Sea, with Sailing Boats Beyond c.1801-2

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Rowing Boat in a Choppy Sea, with Sailing Boats Beyond’ c.1801-2
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 1 Recto:
A Rowing Boat in a Choppy Sea, with Sailing Boats Beyond c.1801–2
D03985
Turner Bequest LXVIII 1
Pencil, ink and wash on white wove paper prepared with a grey-blue wash, 118 x 182 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘1’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘LXVIII 1’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The boat here appears to be a jolly-boat taking a naval officer out to his ship, perhaps the man-of-war visible in the distance in the drawing on the last page of the companion On a Lee Shore (1) sketchbook (Tate D03984; Turner Bequest LXVII 8). The use of a heavy brown ink wash here announces a change of mood from the rapid notation of Lee Shore (1).
Technical notes:
The page is faded and discoloured from prolonged exposure.
Verso:
Blank; inscribed by the Executors of the Turner Bequest, Henry Scott Trimmer, Charles Turner, Charles Lock Eastlake and John Prescott Knight in ink ‘No 170 | H S Trimmer C Turner’ and in pencil ‘C.L.E.’ and ‘JPK’ top left; and by Ruskin in red ink ‘1169’ bottom left.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘A Rowing Boat in a Choppy Sea, with Sailing Boats Beyond c.1801–2 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-rowing-boat-in-a-choppy-sea-with-sailing-boats-beyond-r1178290, accessed 03 November 2025.