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

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J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Wales and the Marches 1792-4 > Drawings and Watercolours Connected with ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Composition Study of Shipping at Sea, with a Three-master and a Lugger ?1792

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Composition Study of Shipping at Sea, with a Three-master and a Lugger’ ?1792
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Composition Study of Shipping at Sea, with a Three-master and a Lugger ?1792
D00400
Turner Bequest XXIII Z
Pencil on white wove paper, 279 x 380 mm
Stamped in black ‘XXIII Z’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This slight study, set within a pencil ‘frame’ with rough sketches of boats around it, confirms that Turner was contemplating marine compositions at this early date; compare Tate D00394 (Turner Bequest XXIII T 2). The style suggests a date of 1792 or even earlier.
The verso is D40244.

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Composition Study of Shipping at Sea, with a Three-master and a Lugger ?1792 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2012, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-composition-study-of-shipping-at-sea-with-a-three-master-and-r1141155, accessed 10 June 2025.