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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Marine subjects c.1803-14 > Spithead Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Men-of-War in Portsmouth Harbour 1807

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Men-of-War in Portsmouth Harbour’ 1807
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 28 Recto:
Men-of-War in Portsmouth Harbour 1807
D06546
Turner Bequest C 27
Pencil on off-white wove paper, 119 x 187 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘27’ bottm right
Stamped in black ‘C 27’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This is a crowded scene of ships, presumably including prizes from the Danish fleet seized by the British at Copenhagen; see Introduction to the sketchbook for the historical background. Here they appear to have entered the harbour and are either at anchor near the quay or surrounded by smaller boats. Finberg related this sketch to Turner’s Spithead: Boat’s Crew Recovering an Anchor (Tate N00481),1 for which also see the Introduction. There is no direct connection, however.

David Blayney Brown
May 2006

1
Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, revised ed., New Haven and London 1984, pp.60–1 no.80 (pl.90).

How to cite

David Blayney Brown, ‘Men-of-War in Portsmouth Harbour 1807 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2006, 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-men-of-war-in-portsmouth-harbour-r1139071, accessed 25 April 2024.