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

This is a study of the Chain Pier at Brighton, taken from the landing stage, with Marine Parade in the background. The Chain Pier was completed in 1823 under the direction of Captain Samuel Brown and at the cost of thirty thousand pounds.1 Its deck was over one thousand feet long, supported by chains suspended from four iron towers and wooden piles driven into the bedrock.2 The pier-head, depicted here, was a platform of Purbeck stone and used as a landing stage for packet boats travelling to and from Dieppe. This sketch is associated with Turner’s design Brighthelmstone, Sussex, engraved for the Southern Coast print series in 1825 (Tate impression T04421).

For further sketches of Brighton in this book see Tate D18343–D18350, D18353–D18365, D18369–D18371; Turner Bequest CCX 20a–23a, 25a–33a, 35a–36a. See also Tate D22773; Turner Bequest CCXLIV 111 and N01986, N02064, T03886.