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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Thames, London and South of England 1821 ... > Thames Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Barges, Laden with Hay, Passing under a Bridge c.1825

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Barges, Laden with Hay, Passing under a Bridge’ c.1825
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 15 Recto:
Barges, Laden with Hay, Passing under a Bridge c.1825
D18617
Turner Bequest CCXII 15
Watercolour on white wove paper, 114 x 188 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘15’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCXII – 15’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This is one of a sequence of twenty-five recto pages of watercolour landscape, sea and sky compositions between folio 9 recto (D18609) and folio 34 recto (D18638), many of which evoke quiet Thames Valley scenes with water in the foreground; for a checklist and general comments, see the sketchbook’s Introduction. In this barely developed subject, a barge laden with hay is seen through the arch of a bridge on the left, with a larger version of the barge alone on the right; compare the similar treatment on folio 14 recto, and another barge in an open river setting on folio 16 recto (D18616, D18618).
Verso:
Blank, save for slight watercolour offsetting from folio 16 recto opposite (D18618).

Matthew Imms
December 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Barges, Laden with Hay, Passing under a Bridge c.1825 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-barges-laden-with-hay-passing-under-a-bridge-r1172734, accessed 24 April 2024.