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 Group of Figures: Study for an Unexecuted Picture of 'The First Plague of Egypt' c.1799-1805

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Group of Figures: Study for an Unexecuted Picture of 'The First Plague of Egypt'’ c.1799-1805
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 78 Recto:
A Group of Figures: Study for an Unexecuted Picture of ‘The First Plague of Egypt’ c.1799–1805
D05055
Turner Bequest LXXXI 153
Black chalk and ink on blue laid paper, 436 x 271 mm
Watermarks ‘1794’ and ‘VI’
Inscribed in red ink by John Ruskin ‘153’ top left, upside down
Stamped in black ‘LXXXI–153’ top left, upside down
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, this is a continuation of the drawing on folio 77 verso opposite (D05054; Turner Bequest LXXXI 152), under which the subject is discussed.
Technical notes:
The removal of a figure drawn on the verso (D05056; Turner Bequest LXXXI 154) is evident above the drawing here; the resultant hole has since been made good with similar paper.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘A Group of Figures: Study for an Unexecuted Picture of ‘The First Plague of Egypt’ 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-group-of-figures-study-for-an-unexecuted-picture-of-the-r1178259, accessed 25 April 2024.