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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and French ... > Holland Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Sailing Boats at the Entrance to Boulogne Harbour, off the Western Pier and Telegraph Tower 1825

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Sailing Boats at the Entrance to Boulogne Harbour, off the Western Pier and Telegraph Tower’ 1825
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 246 Recto:
Sailing Boats at the Entrance to Boulogne Harbour, off the Western Pier and Telegraph Tower 1825
D19328
Turner Bequest CCXIV 246
Pencil on white wove paper, 95 x 155 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘46’ top right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCXIV – 246’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the page turned horizontally, the view is north-west from the entrance of Boulogne’s harbour, down the channel between two piers at the mouth of the River Liane. At the end of the western arm, towards the left, is the telegraph tower at about the point where the Capitainerie tower now stands on reclaimed land above the Quai de l’Amiral Huguet. There is a wider view from further back on folio 245 verso opposite (D19327), and one showing the buildings in more detail on the verso (D19329); there and on this page, as much attention is paid to the manoeuvring sailing boats.
See under folio 241 verso (D19319) for other Boulogne subjects, and the sketchbook’s Introduction for discussion of its many shipping studies.

Matthew Imms
September 2020

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Sailing Boats at the Entrance to Boulogne Harbour, off the Western Pier and Telegraph Tower 1825 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2020, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, March 2023, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-sailing-boats-at-the-entrance-to-boulogne-harbour-off-the-r1202680, accessed 19 June 2025.