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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > European River and Lowland Scenes > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Boat Carrying Horses c.1830

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Boat Carrying Horses’ c.1830
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
A Boat Carrying Horses c.1830
D40081
Turner Bequest CCLIX 264b
Gouache and watercolour on blue wove paper, 141 x 190 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLIX 264b’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The scene is dominated by the length of a single boat, carrying what appear to be horses, whose forms are reflected in the water underneath. A figure stands at the prow of the boat facing the direction of travel, while three more figures appear towards the stern, one using a pole or oar to propel the vessel, another controlling the rudder and a third seated figure whose feet are dipped into the water. A large hill rises up to the left in the distance, topped with buildings.
Compare Tate D24829 (Turner Bequest CCLIX 264), a similar subject, dated to about 1830 in Finberg’s 1909 Inventory. The present work was not listed there,1 but has subsequently (and apparently correctly) been associated with the other as one of two exhibited together in the touring Third Loan Collection from the Bequest;2 it was consequently stamped and accessioned as CCLIX 264b. For the grouping and general dating of these works, see the section Introduction.
1
See A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.II, p.805.
2
The timing is uncertain, as Warrell 1991, p.48, describes no.114b in the Loan Collection as ‘Not yet identified.’
Verso:
Blank except for inscriptions. Traces of white strips of paper along the edges of the sheet indicate an earlier mount. Inscribed in pencil ‘CCLIX 264 (b)’ bottom centre and ‘D40081’ bottom right of centre.

Ben Pollitt
August 2019

How to cite

Ben Pollitt, ‘A Boat Carrying Horses c.1830 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, August 2019, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, March 2023, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-boat-carrying-horses-r1202167, accessed 09 May 2024.