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

With the page turned vertically, there sketches in five bands here, with warships, silhouetted hulks and sailing boats shown in various combination with waterside buildings, presumably in Portsmouth Harbour. The second register is divided by a vertical pencil line, with separate studies to left and right; the left-hand one has colour notes in the sky. The buildings at the top right and the detail above may be an aspect of Portchester Castle, which Turner had recorded in detail on folios 11 verso and 12 recto and verso (D17934–D17936).

This is one of a continuous series of views around Portsmouth between folios 1 recto and 20 recto (D17913–D17951); many appear to have been made from a boat; for the overall sequence and details of the most prominent buildings and defences, see the Introduction.