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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Liber Studiorum notes c.1807-19 > Liber Notes (2) Sketchbook [Finberg CLIV ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Marshmallow and Another Plant c.1808-18

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Marshmallow and Another Plant’ c.1808-18
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 7 Recto:
Marshmallow and Another Plant c.1808–18
D12133
Turner Bequest CLIV a 7
Pencil on white wove paper, 112 x 89 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Yellow White flowers’ above centre, ‘Marsh Mallow’ bottom centre and ‘cold’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLIV (a) – 7’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
There are two separate studies, made with the page turned vertically: at the top left a plant Turner does not identify, with ‘Yellow White’ flowers; below it, a marshmallow (Althaea officinalis). ‘Cold’ appears to refer to the hue of its leaves, as the same adjective is used to annotate the sketch of a strawberry plant on folio 6 recto (D12132). There are other botanical studies on folios 5 recto, 8 recto and 9 recto (D12131, D12135, D12136).
Technical notes:
There is a pale brown stain affecting the two thirds of the page, showing through from the verso (D12134).
There seems to be no sign of John Ruskin’s usual red ink foliation; there are such numbers on most of the later pages (see the Introduction to the sketchbook).

Matthew Imms
September 2013

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Marshmallow and Another Plant c.1808–18 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2013, 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-marshmallow-and-another-plant-r1147549, accessed 25 April 2024.