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 Ships on the River Medway at Chatham c.1821

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Ships on the River Medway at Chatham’ c.1821
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 15 Recto:
Ships on the River Medway at Chatham c.1821
D17389
Turner Bequest CXCIX 15
Pencil on white wove paper, 112 x 190 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Silver sky and light in tone’ towards right
Stamped in black ‘CXCIX – 15’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Across this and the facing page on folio 14 verso (D17388) Turner makes a detailed sketch of a section of Chatham Dockyard on the River Medway. Ship building sheds are visible along the harbour at centre, and large vessels populate the water in the foreground. The sterns of three ships of the line are delineated with particular care in the middle of the page. The gallery windows are meticulously recorded in each case, as well as any decorative workmanship applied to the timber above. Further back, Turner conjures a forest of masts and patchwork of lightly hatched hulls. The distance comprises a slice of blank topography, elaborated with foliage at far left before the prospect crosses the gutter. At far left, the architecture of Chatham begins to make an appearance.
Turner makes a great number of studies at Chatham in this sketchbook. A comprehensive list can be found in the entry for folio 22 recto (D17402).
Verso:
Blank

Maud Whatley
January 2016

How to cite

Maud Whatley, ‘Ships on the River Medway at Chatham 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-ships-on-the-river-medway-at-chatham-r1184666, accessed 25 April 2024.