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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Liber Studiorum notes c.1807-19 > Liber Notes (2) Sketchbook [Finberg CLIV ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Landscape, Possibly with a Stream or Waterfall c.1808-18

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Landscape, Possibly with a Stream or Waterfall’ c.1808-18
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 4 Recto:
A Landscape, Possibly with a Stream or Waterfall c.1808–18
D12130
Turner Bequest CLIV a 4
Pencil on white wove paper, 89 x 112 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[?V a]’ bottom left
?Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘4’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLIV (a) – 4’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
There appear to be hills and trees in the distance but there is otherwise little sense of scale, so that the size and nature of the features in the foreground are unclear. They may be some form of watercourse, as Finberg suggests. The sketch continues on folio 3 verso opposite (D12129).
Technical notes:
The central portion of the right-hand edge has irregular losses, presumably caused by rubbing against the clasp of the original cover (see the Introduction), similarly affecting the leaves from folio 1 (D12124, D12125) as far as folio 6 (the recto of which is D12132). There is a pale brown stain radiating from the centre of the right-hand edge, again apparently caused by proximity to the original clasp.
There seems to be the impression of a number ‘4’ next to the stamped figure at the bottom right, in accordance with John Ruskin’s usual practice of foliating Turner’s sketchbooks, but if written in ink it has faded completely. There are clearer numbers on most of the later pages (see the Introduction to the sketchbook).
Verso:
Blank

Matthew Imms
September 2013

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A Landscape, Possibly with a Stream or Waterfall c.1808–18 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-landscape-possibly-with-a-stream-or-waterfall-r1147546, accessed 19 April 2024.