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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Folkestone and the Medway c.1821-2 > Medway Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Warships c.1821

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Warships’ c.1821
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 1 Verso:
Warships c.1821
D17366
Turner Bequest CXCIX 1a
Pencil on white wove paper, 112 x 190 mm
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Made with the page inverted relative to the foliation of the sketchbook, here Turner describes warships in profile, as identified by Finberg.1 The handling is light but calculated. Turner delineates two complete vessels, one at centre, and another, smaller example at top right. Towards the right, Turner elaborates a small detail, possibly a brief section of the gallery across the stern.
1
Finberg 1909, I, p.607.
Technical notes:
The top edge of this page seems raw in appearance, compared with the cleanly sliced leaves throughout the sketchbook. The fibres of the paper are evident, the look uneven.

Maud Whatley
January 2016

How to cite

Maud Whatley, ‘Warships c.1821 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, January 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, February 2017, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-warships-r1184643, accessed 26 April 2024.