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

Made with the page turned vertically, two drawings across the top edge of this sheet describe vessels on the calm waters of a river. Presumably Finberg’s identification of the River Medway rests upon the consistent topographic focus throughout the present sketchbook.1 The topmost scene is comprised almost singularly of vessels. At far right, a tall ship of the line is displayed, its towering masts and angled bowsprit briefly but confidently delineated. Stout vessels scatter the horizon at varying distances from Turner’s position, and at left the level riverbank is indicated.

The second view is rendered in a fainter hand, and describes mainly the character of a section of topography which ascends from the water’s edge. At right, a vessel with a trio of masts floats alongside the riverbank. The uneven line of the hillside rises above that in a series of mounds and troughs.

With the page inverted in relation to the foliation of the sketchbook, Turner makes additional studies on this sheet. Across its centre, he describes the outline of a hulk, as insinuated by the title given by Finberg to this folio.2 The stern at left and bow at right are rendered with greater application of pressure to the pencil than the rest of the form. Turner elaborates either end with some detail; the windows of the galley and some gun ports at left, some decorative detail at right. The remaining portion of the hull’s silhouette is sketched in using only the briefest of marks.

At far left, emerging from the gutter and again composed with the sketchbook inverted in relation to its regular foliation, the elaborately decorative bow of a hulk expansively observed on folio 45 recto (D17441) spills over onto the present page. It displays an intricate figurehead, even elaborated with brief facial features.