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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > George IV’s visit to Edinburgh 1822 > King's Visit to Edinburgh Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Royal Squadron at Anchor 1822

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Royal Squadron at Anchor’ 1822
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 66 Recto:
The Royal Squadron at Anchor 1822
D17621
Turner Bequest CC 66
Pencil on white wove paper, 114 x 187 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ‘Green’ bottom left
Inscribed in red ink by John Ruskin ‘66’ top left inverted
Stamped in black ‘CC 66’ top left inverted
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Although drawn with the sketchbook inverted in a very minimal style (see folio 64; D17618) there is a lot of activity in this sketch of boats of the royal squadron at Leith Roads. Most of the boats are at anchor, although one at the right is under sail. At the left is a large vessel seen stern-on, with a ‘green’ barge tethered behind it. This barge may have belonged to visitors to the ship, or else it was waiting to take the ship’s passengers to shore. A similar looking boat, also inscribed ‘green’, is depicted on folios 72 and 73 (D17633, D17635). The ship may be the Royal George, which had a similar stern (folio 4; D17514).

Thomas Ardill
August 2008

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘The Royal Squadron at Anchor 1822 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, August 2008, 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-the-royal-squadron-at-anchor-r1132962, accessed 05 April 2026.