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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Copy-Drawings 1794-8 > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Bridge at Lewes, Sussex ?1796

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Bridge at Lewes, Sussex’ ?1796
A Bridge at Lewes, Sussex ?1796
D00858
Turner Bequest XXXII B
Pencil and watercolour on white wove paper, 151 x 216 mm
Stamped in black ‘XXXII B’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The subject seems to have been copied from a drawing, probably by Michael Angelo Rooker (1746–1801), based on Rooker’s study of Lewes Bridge now in the Sussex Archaeological Society, Lewes (LEWSA.VR3199). The connection was made by Farrant, who suggests that Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833) possessed Rooker’s finished watercolour, and that Turner copied it for use as a pupil’s copy-drawing in the course of his attendance at Monro’s ‘Academy’ (see the introduction to the ‘Monro School’ section of the present catalogue).
A copy, presumably from Turner’s drawing by one of his own pupils, is Tate D40250 (Turner Bequest XXXI D [verso]). Farrant draws attention to a further version of the subject by Alexander Monro (1802–1844), presumably taken from the Rooker drawing in his father Dr Monro’s collection rather than from Turner’s version (Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, B1975.3.879).
The verso (D40055) comprises related inscriptions and colour trials.

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

Revised by Matthew Imms
November 2020

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘A Bridge at Lewes, Sussex ?1796’, catalogue entry, April 2012, revised by Matthew Imms, November 2020, 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/a-bridge-at-lewes-sussex-r1140053, accessed 31 July 2026.