J.M.W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner Petworth House: Fire-Light and Lamp-Light, Possibly in the White Library 1827
Joseph Mallord William Turner,
Petworth House: Fire-Light and Lamp-Light, Possibly in the White Library
1827
Petworth House: Fire–Light and Lamp–Light, Possibly in the White Library 1827
D22703
Turner Bequest CCXLIV 41
Turner Bequest CCXLIV 41
Gouache and watercolour on blue wove paper, 139 x 193 mm
Stamped in black ‘CCXLIV 41’ bottom right
Blind stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCXLIV 41’ bottom right
Blind stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Exhibition history
1961
J.W.M. [sic] Turner 1775–1851: Watercolours: On Loan to the National Gallery of Victoria on the Occasion of its Centenary from the Turner Bequest by Courtesy of the Trustees and Director of the British Museum, London, with the Assistance of the British Council, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, September–October 1961, National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, October–November 1961 (15a).
1947
Turner 1775–1851: Tentoonstelling in het Stedelijk Museum te Amsterdam georganiseerd door de Tate Gallery voor de British Council, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam 1947 (51).
1947
William Turner 1775–1851: Die Ausstellung wurde von der Tate Gallery für den British Council organisiert, Berner Kunstmuseum, Bern, December 1947–February 1948 (51a).
1948
Turner 1775–1851: Tentoonstelling van schilderijen ingericht door de Tate Gallery voor The British Council in het Ministerie van Openbaar Onderwijs van Belgie, Palais voor Schone Kunst, Brussels and Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Liège, March–April 1948 (51a).
1948
Turner 1775–1851: Exposition de peintures organisée par la Tate Gallery pour le British Council, Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris, ?March 1948 (51a).
1951
Aquarelle aus dem Turner-Nachlass im Britischen Museum veranstaltet vom British Council, Düsseldorf, Wiesbaden, Mannheim, Munich, Nuremberg: September or October 1950–March 1951, and September 1951–April 1952 (11a).
1951
The Turner Collection from Petworth, Tate Gallery, London, May–July 1951.
1938
[Display of Watercolours], National Gallery, London, December 1938–September 1939 (no catalogue, as one of ‘Three Interiors at Petworth’).
1963
J.M.W. Turner, Bridgestone Gallery, Tokyo, September–October 1963, Fine Arts Museum, Osaska, November 1963 (17a).
1964
Turner 1775–1851: Watercolours from the British Museum, London, Presented in Association with the British Council, City Hall Art Gallery, Hong Kong, January 1964 (17a).
1974
Turner 1775–1851, Royal Academy, London, November 1974–March 1975 (351).
1983
Turner and the Human Figure: Watercolours from the Turner Bequest, Loaned by the British Museum, Tate Gallery, London, December 1983–July 1984 (no catalogue).
1998
Moonlight and Firelight: Watercolours from the Turner Bequest, Tate Gallery, London, July–November 1998 (no catalogue, as ‘Firelight and Lamplight’).
2005
Turner at Petworth, Tate Gallery, London, October 2005–April 2006 (no catalogue).
2009
Turner / Rothko, Tate Britain, London, March–July 2009 (no catalogue).
References
1909
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.II, p.745, CCXLIV 41, as ‘Fire-light and lamp-light’.
1947
[Humphrey Brooke], Turner 1775–1851: Tentoonstelling in het Stedelijk Museum te Amsterdam georganiseerd door de Tate Gallery voor de British Council, exhibition catalogue, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam 1947, no.51 as one of ‘Impressions at Petworth’.
1947
[Humphrey Brooke], William Turner 1775–1851: Die Ausstellung wurde von der Tate Gallery für den British Council organisiert, exhibition catalogue, Berner Kunstmuseum, Bern 1947, no.51a as one of ‘Impressions at Petworth’.
1948
[Humphrey Brooke], Turner 1775–1851: Tentoonstelling van schilderijen ingericht door de Tate Gallery voor The British Council in het Ministerie van Openbaar Onderwijs van Belgie, exhibition catalogue, Palais voor Schone Kunst, Brussels and Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Liège (‘Luik’) 1948, no.51a as one of ‘Impressions at Petworth’.
1948
[Humphrey Brooke], Turner 1775–1851: Exposition de peintures organisée par la Tate Gallery pour le British Council, exhibition catalogue, Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris 1948, no.51a as one of ‘Impressions at Petworth’.
1950
J. Isaacs, Aquarelle aus dem Turner-Nachlass im Britischen Museum veranstaltet vom British Council, exhibition British Council German tour, 1950, no.11a as one of ‘Impressions at Petworth’.
1951
John Rothenstein, The Turner Collection from Petworth, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1951.
1961
J. Isaacs, J.W.M. [sic] Turner 1775–1851: Watercolours: On Loan to the National Gallery of Victoria on the Occasion of its Centenary from the Turner Bequest by Courtesy of the Trustees and Director of the British Museum, London, with the Assistance of the British Council, exhibition catalogue, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 1961 no.15a.
1963
Basil Gray, Edward Croft-Murray and Martin Butlin, J.M.W. Turner, exhibition catalogue, Bridgestone Gallery, Tokyo 1963, no.17a as ‘Firelight and lamplight’.
1964
Basil Gray, Edward Croft-Murray and Martin Butlin, Turner 1775–1851: An Exhibition of Watercolours from the British Museum London, Presented in Association with the British Council, exhibition catalogue, City Hall Art Gallery, Hong Kong 1964, no.17a as ‘Firelight and lamplight’.
1966
Jack Lindsay, J.M.W. Turner: His Life and Work: A Critical Biography, London 1966, no.24 reproduced after p.136.
1974
Martin Butlin, Andrew Wilton and John Gage, Turner 1775–1851, exhibition catalogue, Royal Academy, London 1974, as ‘Petworth: a Candlelit Interior with Figures seated at a Table’.
1975
Gerald Wilkinson, Turner’s Colour Sketches 1820–34, London 1975, p.56 reproduced.
1989
Martin Butlin, Mollie Luther and Ian Warrell, Turner at Petworth: Painter and Patron, London 1989, pp.61, 70 note 1, 142, 143, 179 pl.29.
1990
Martin Butlin, Mollie Luther and Ian Warrell, Turner: Les Années Egremont: Chefs d’oeuvre inédits, trans. Tamara Préaud, Paris 1990, pl.29.
This is one of a large group of separate studies, most of which were made in gouache and watercolour on blue paper, associated with a visit to Petworth House in West Sussex, the home of the third Earl of Egremont. For more information, see the Introduction to this section.
The suggestion of structures that could be bookcases, as well as the sense of a post-dinner social space, are suggestive of Petworth’s White Library; for more information about Turner’s numerous studies of this room, see the entry for Tate D22678 (Turner Bequest CCXLIV 16). The depiction of lamplight, with the foreground figures dramatically illuminated, makes this study similar in atmosphere to Tate D22688 (Turner Bequest CCXLIV 26), another view of the room.
Verso:
Blank, save for inscriptions: inscribed in pencil ‘16 a’ centre; stamped in black ‘CCXLIV 41’ bottom left; stamped in black with Turner Bequest monogram bottom left.
Elizabeth Jacklin
February 2019
How to cite
Elizabeth Jacklin, ‘Petworth House: Fire–Light and Lamp–Light, Possibly in the White Library 1827’, catalogue entry, February 2019, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2024, https://www