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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Oxford c.1787-91 > Oxford and Other Subjects > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Study of Masonry c.1791

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study of Masonry’ c.1791
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Study of Masonry c.1791
D40266
Watercolour on laid paper (trimmed to an oval), 201 x 252 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pen and brown ink ‘St Vincents Tower | Naples’ top centre
Stamped in black with Turner Bequest monogram above ‘I E’ below centre
Inscribed in a later hand in pencil ‘Turner Vol. 92’ bottom centre
Inscribed in red ink ‘IE.’ and ‘<3/2>’ bottom right
Inscribed in pencil ‘RECTO | D.00005 | VERSO | D.40266’ top right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The study of masonry is related to Turner’s rendering of the base of the tower drawn on the recto (Tate D00005; Turner Bequest I E). The title of the drawing inscribed in elaborate copper-plate is similar to the titles that Turner added to his studies of views in the Avon Gorge in his Bristol and Malmesbury sketchbook (Tate; Turner Bequest VI; see introductory note).
There are also grey colour trials around the lower edge.

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Study of Masonry c.1791 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2012, 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-study-of-masonry-r1140102, accessed 21 November 2024.