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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Scotland 1831 > Rokeby and Appleby Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Nude Figure Study c.1830-1

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Nude Figure Study’ c.1830-1
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 1 Verso:
Nude Figure Study circa 1830–1
D25525
Turner Bequest CCLXIV 1a
Pencil on white wove paper, 94 x 74 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ‘300 G 43 L [...] 70 h | Bushnall ship 104 Bricklane | [?]Shoreditch’
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the sketchbook turned to the right is the first of three studies of female nudes in this sketchbook, probably drawn in connection to Turner’s role as Visitor to the Royal Academy Schools to supervise the life drawing class (see folio 3 verso; D25529). This figure is shown from the front with her arms raised as if drying her hair. Faint lines in the drawing indicate that Turner changed the position of the figure as he was drawing it.
The inscription at the top of the page refers to an address, ‘104 Bricklane, Shoreditch’, in London’s East End. Number 104 is not listed in the Post Office Trade Directory of 1841, suggesting that it was at that time a private residence, although it may not have been in 1831. The other inscriptions may also be addresses, but are hard to decipher because they have been abbreviated. At the very top of the page ‘43 L In’ could plausibly stand for 43 Lincolns Inn, which in 1814 was described in a survey as ‘Mr Ord’s house’,1 and later became part of the Royal College of Surgeons. The significance of these addresses is not clear.

Thomas Ardill
September 2009

1
W. Edward Riley and Sir Laurence Gomme (editors), ‘No. 43, Lincoln's Inn Fields (Royal College of Surgeons): floor plans’, British History Online, accessed September 2009, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=74205; see also W. Edward Riley and Sir Laurence Gomme (editors), ‘Lincoln's Inn Fields Nos. 39 to 43 (Royal College of Surgeons)’, British History Online, accessed September 2009, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=74150.

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Nude Figure Study c.1830–1 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2009, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-nude-figure-study-r1133884, accessed 18 May 2024.