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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > History Painting c.1799-1807 > Calais Pier Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Sailing Vessel c.1799-1805

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Sailing Vessel’ c.1799-1805
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 59 Recto:
A Sailing Vessel c.1799–1805
D05017
Turner Bequest LXXXI 115
Ink and black and white chalks on blue laid paper, 436 x 271 mm
Watermarks ‘1794’ and ‘VI’
Inscribed in red ink by John Ruskin ‘115’ top left, upside down
Stamped in black ‘LXXXI–115’ top left, upside down
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, this rapid sketch of a ship under shortened sail, scudding before the wind, is apparently a further study of one of the vessels to the right of the drawing on folios 57 verso–58 recto (D05014–D05015; Turner Bequest LXXXI 112–113); it was used for a ship in a similar position in the finished painting Ships Bearing up for Anchorage (‘The Egremont Seapiece’), exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1802 (Tate T03868, displayed at Petworth House, West Sussex).1
The drawing continues a little on folio 58 verso opposite (D05016; Turner Bequest LXXXI 114). The slight black chalk sketch at the centre left on the present page is apparently unrelated to the main subject and is difficult to interpret, though it appears to represent a human figure and is probably connected with the carved figurehead on the foremost of the ships in the group; compare folios 34 verso–35 recto (D04968–D04969; Turner Bequest LXXXI 66–67).

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

1
Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, revised ed., New Haven and London 1984, p.17 no.18, pl.14 (colour).

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘A Sailing Vessel c.1799–1805 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-sailing-vessel-r1178221, accessed 20 September 2024.