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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner At Sea c.1845

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘At Sea’ c.1845
At Sea c.1845
D35242
Turner Bequest CCCLIII 3
Watercolour on white wove paper prepared with a grey wash, 221 x 331 mm
Watermark ‘J Whatman | Turkey Mills | 1823’
Inscribed in red ink ‘3’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCCLIII 3’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This is a very slight, notational sketch. Turner has used the same shade of grey for the sweep that defines the horizon, the dabs that form the clouds and a pattern of marks in the lower half of the page that suggest the textural rhythm of waves.
Technical Notes:
In common with others in this sketchbook, the leaf is loose of its binding. There is a patch of discoloration on the right-hand side and particularly down the right-hand edge, probably as a result of damage in the Tate Gallery flood of 1928.
Verso:
Blank, with small patches of discolouration.

Amy Concannon
May 2025

How to cite

Amy Concannon, ‘At Sea c.1845’, catalogue entry, May 2025, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, July 2026, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/at-sea-r1214150, accessed 11 July 2026.