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

Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, there are two studies here, apparently showing the same steep flight of steps down from a quay, perhaps at Cowes. The upper study shows an adult and child waiting beside various small rowing boats which appear already heavily laden, while the one below focuses on a crowd of elegant men and women waiting at the top as bonneted women descend. They are likely to be spectators of the yacht racing frequently depicted on other pages. Compare the figures on folio 58 recto (D18101), and for more on studies in this sketchbook relating to the regatta events at Cowes from late July 1827 onwards, see the sketchbook Introduction.