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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Ships at Anchor and a Sailing Boat 1827

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 14 Verso:
Ships at Anchor and a Sailing Boat 1827
D18016
Turner Bequest CCVII 14a
Pencil on white wove paper, 100 x 74 mm
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the page turned vertically, there are quick studies on two registers here. At the top left are the profiles of two ships with their sails furled, and a study of a sailing boat, possibly passing a smaller craft, at the top right. Below to the right is a ship seen at anchor from the stern, with what seem to be masts to its left above rolling forms along the waterline, which might indicate a low, wooded shore or possibly smoke from a salute being fired. There are similar loose forms beside the ships at the top left; a series of dashes in line with the mast of the left-hand vessel may indicate bunting or signal flags, as seen on folio 15 recto opposite (D18017). For more on studies in this sketchbook relating to the regatta events at Cowes from late July 1827 onwards, see the sketchbook Introduction.

Matthew Imms
December 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Ships at Anchor and a Sailing Boat 1827 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-ships-at-anchor-and-a-sailing-boat-r1183504, accessed 02 November 2024.