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

With the page turned horizontally, the deftly rendered central subject is the beached hulls of two substantial boats, seen obliquely from the bows and stern, with one annotated with colours. There are slight indications of its reflection in shallow water or wet sand, which may be reinforced by a further note at that point. It is unclear whether the sketch at the top left shows marine gear or a cursory figure, with a note apparently concerning the carrying of fish.

The setting is not indicated, but may be Folkestone Harbour. There is a note of boys playing there on the recto, along with studies of the town’s church. For Turner’s numerous views there in this sketchbook and elsewhere, see under folio 8 recto (D18855), and see the book’s Introduction for discussion of its many shipping studies. See under folios 10 verso–11 verso (D18860–D18862) for an undated watercolour of Fishing Boats on Folkestone Beach, Kent (National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin),1 featuring a similar hull with elongated reflections. Figure studies inside the back cover opposite (D40992) may show local fisherfolk.

Technical notes:

When imaged in 2001, the sketchbook’s covers were only secured at the front hinge, leaving a gap between this page and the rear endpaper opposite (D40992), which has since been closed up. This issue was likely longstanding, and related to Finberg’s note immediately following his entry for the present page in the 1909 Turner Bequest Inventory: ‘Two leaves torn out’.1 Only very shallow, irregular stubs remain; the missing pages have not been identified, and were perhaps extracted by the artist at the time the book was in use and later discarded or lost, weakening the hinge in the process.