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

With the page turned horizontally, the main view is of Amsterdam’s Haringpakkerstoren (‘herring packers’ tower’), at the corner of the Singel canal and the Haringpakkerij quay (now part of Prins Hendrikkade), overlooking the IJ riverfront. The defensive tower, built in 1606, originally had an elaborate multi-stage spire, above the level of the clocks shown here, as seen in older paintings and prints; in 1813 it had been replaced by an open dome-like framework, and in 1829 the whole structure was demolished. It is shown from the same angle, looking south-east past jetties and gabled houses, in a detailed 1825 engraving of The Herring Tower, Amsterdam after Robert Batty.1

Turner only noted selected details of the façades towards the foreground, and introduced some details beside the tower; at the top left is what appears to be a thumbnail variant, perhaps with a tall sail to the left of the tower. The inscription at the top right is likely from adjacent signage, but its reading is unclear. Rough sketches including elaborate gables on folio 96 verso opposite (D19030) may be related. The prominent tower is seen from the other direction on folio 85 verso (D19008), in a more detailed variant on folio 107 recto (D19051), and again on folios 104 recto (and possibly its verso), 109 verso, 110 recto, 111 recto, 114 recto and 120 verso (D19045–D19046, D19055–D19056, D19058, D19064, D19077). There also appear to be studies of the upper stages on folio 130 verso (D19097), sharing a page with a view at Utrecht, the next stop on the tour.

See also the contemporary Holland, Meuse, Cologne sketchbook Tate D19497; Turner Bequest CCXV 59a), and 1817’s Dort book (D13092–D13093, D13098–D13099; CLXII 51a–52, 54a–55). Proposals to rebuild the tower in recent years have yet to be realised; the riverfront has since been extensively developed, with the Westerdok and Oosterdok, the Victorian railway station and tower blocks, and the site now overlooks a narrow basin rather than the open water.

See under folio 81 recto (D18999) for other views in and around the city in this book and elsewhere. That page is the first of a short sequence between runs of Rotterdam subjects (see under folio 35 recto; D18908), and it is possible that Turner was using up a few missed leaves; the present page may be his actual first view of Amsterdam on this tour, after a few charting the journey from Rotterdam by way of Delft and Leiden; see folios 95 recto–96 recto (D19027–D19029) for the latter.