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

The yacht seen head-on here is comparable with one to the left of centre in the painting East Cowes Castle, the Seat of J. Nash, Esq.; the Regatta Beating to Windward, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1828 (Indianapolis Museum of Art).1 It evidently preceded the three coastal profiles which are drawn leaving a gap for its sails. The view at the top may show Portsmouth, with its waterfront towers and the dome of the cathedral towards the right; compare various views in the first half of the London Bridge and Portsmouth sketchbook, probably used in 1824 (Tate; Turner Bequest CCVI).

The fort in the second view remains unidentified despite Turner’s annotation; there appears to be a windmill in the third. At the bottom of the page a hybrid paddle-steamer with three masts is seen off Ryde on the Isle of Wight, according to Turner’s inscription. The same vessel is apparently shown from the stern on folio 35 recto opposite (D18056). For more on studies in this sketchbook relating to the regatta events at Cowes on the island from late July 1827 onwards, see the sketchbook Introduction.