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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > George IV’s visit to Edinburgh 1822 > King at Edinburgh Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Group of Figures 1820-3

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Group of Figures’ 1820-3 (Inside front cover of sketchbook)
Inside front cover of sketchbook
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Inside Front Cover:
Group of Figures 1820–3
D40978
Turner Bequest
Pencil on white wove paper, 111 x 188 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ‘Guinea Collectors’ left running vertically
Endorsed with an inscription in brown ink by Henry Trimmer ‘No 311 contains 6 leaves – in pencil | [signed] H.S. Trimmer’ top
Inscribed in brown ink with the signature of Charles Turner ‘C Turner’ beneath Trimmer’s signature
Inscribed in pencil by Charles Lock Eastlake ‘C.L.E’ and in pencil by John Prescott Knight ‘JPK’ centre
Blindstamped with the Turner Bequest stamp centre
Inscribed in pencil by Finberg ‘CCI’ top right and stamped in brown ink beneath it ‘CCI’
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The inside front cover of this sketchbook contains one small and rough sketch, drawn with the book turned to the right near the outer edge of the page. It shows two figures carrying hand carts and is labelled ‘Guinea collectors’ in Turner’s hand. It is possible that these people are connected in some way to an event of the visit of George IV to Edinburgh in 1822; perhaps they are collection guineas for entry into an event, or the hire or sale of something.1 However, seeing as this sketchbook was also used for non-Scottish subjects, the sketch may be unconnected.
The other inscriptions on this page are the endorsements of Turner’s executors. H.S. Trimmer has numbered the book ‘No. 311’, and noted its contents: ‘6 leaves in pencil’, before adding his signature. Beneath this is the signature of Charles Turner and the initials of Charles Lock Eastlake and John Prescott Knight. A.J. Finberg has inscribed in pencil and stamped in black ink the Turner Bequest number ‘CCI’.

Thomas Ardill
November 2008

1
The term ‘guinea’ is used colloquially as the guinea coin had been replaced by the sovereign during the so-called Great Recoinage around 1816–17.

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Group of Figures 1820–3 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, November 2008, 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-group-of-figures-r1133214, accessed 24 November 2024.