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

Much of this page is difficult to make out, being obscured by the rubbing and offsetting recorded below in the technical notes, but there are thee bands of sketches. The upper two show aspects of Hampton Court Palace, looking north across the River Thames, and would have informed Turner’s watercolour Hampton Court Palace of about 1827 (private collection),1 engraved in 1829 for the Picturesque Views in England and Wales (Tate impression: T04550), as noted by Jan Piggott.2 The crooked form of the willow tree at the top left makes an appearance in the finished design. For other studies at and around Hampton Court in this sketchbook, see under folio 2 verso (D20736).

At the bottom left a Thames barge is shown under sail, while the slight sketch at the bottom right may show riverside buildings.

Technical notes:

The pencil work has been heavily rubbed and offset to and from the paste-down inside the back cover opposite (D41006).