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 Feather Few and Buttercup Plants c.1808-18

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Feather Few and Buttercup Plants’ c.1808-18
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 8 Recto:
Feather Few and Buttercup Plants c.1808–18
D12135
Turner Bequest CLIV a 8
Pencil on white wove paper, 112 x 89 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘yellow g’ and ‘feather few’ centre left, ‘3’ centre right, and ‘Butter cup’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLIV (a) – 8’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Turner made these studies of plants in isolation, with the page turned vertically. The main drawing shows feverfew or feather few (Tanacetum parthenium or Pyrethrum parthenium). At the bottom right is a buttercup (Ranunculus). Each plant is accompanied by a diagram of one of its leaves. There are other botanical studies on folios 5 recto, 7 recto and 9 recto (D12131, D12133, D12136).
Technical notes:
There seems to be no sign of John Ruskin’s usual red ink foliation; there are such numbers on most of the later pages (see the Introduction to the sketchbook).
There is an irregular, pale brown stain affecting most of the page, mirrored on folio 7 verso opposite (D12135); it also shows through on the verso.
Verso:
Blank

Matthew Imms
September 2013

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Feather Few and Buttercup Plants 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-feather-few-and-buttercup-plants-r1147551, accessed 23 April 2024.