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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Landscapes Studies c.1834-6

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Inside Front Cover:
Landscapes Studies c.1834–6
D40746
Pencil on white wove paper, 79 x 101 mm
Inscribed by later hands in ink and pencil (see main catalogue entry)
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram centre
Inscribed in pencil ‘CCLXXXI’ towards top left
Stamped in black ‘CCLXXXI’ top left
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
There are two shallow horizontal landscape studies, one above the other. The top one appears to run the full width of the page, albeit the left-hand half is just a horizon line; on the right is the profile of hills or cliffs, with the strongest element being a short upright mark above a wavy horizontal line, possibly indicating the mast or funnel of a boat.
Unfortunately, the sketch is effectively obliterated by the Turner Bequest executors’ endorsement running over it across the top half of the page. The book’s original schedule number is endorsed by Henry Scott Trimmer, Charles Turner, Charles Lock Eastlake and John Prescott Knight, starting in ink: ‘No 398 – Contains | 28 leaves. Pencil Sketches | HS Trimmer’, additionally signed in ink ‘C Turner’ at the centre right and initialled in pencil ‘C.L.E.’ and ‘JPK’ below, towards the bottom right.
Towards the bottom left is a separate landscape, with low-lying vegetation or other vertical forms on the left, and what may be an arched bridge or other structure towards the centre, although that part of the page is heavily rubbed and obscured. There are numerous unidentified landscapes in this sketchbook, as set out in the Introduction. Some may have been recorded in the vicinity of the scenes of fishing at a weir which begin on folio 15 verso (D27752).
Technical notes:
A blank free end paper of modern white wove paper has been inserted opposite, perhaps to prevent further rubbing from folio 1 recto (D22727); it has not been accessioned. There is heavy staining from the leather overlaps of the front cover.

Matthew Imms
April 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Landscapes Studies c.1834–6 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-landscapes-studies-r1149090, accessed 18 April 2024.