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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Thames, London and South of England 1821 ... > Mortlake and Pulborough Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner The River Thames at Mortlake, Looking North-East towards Chiswick and Barnes; the Porch of 'The Limes' 1825

Image 1 of 2
  • Enhanced image
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The River Thames at Mortlake, Looking North-East towards Chiswick and Barnes; the Porch of 'The Limes'’ 1825
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 12 Verso:
The River Thames at Mortlake, Looking North-East towards Chiswick and Barnes; the Porch of ‘The Limes’ 1825
D18727
Turner Bequest CCXIII 12a
Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 187 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Chiswick’ centre left, ‘Houses [... ?fences]’ below centre, ‘[?Rea...]’ towards bottom left beside portico, and ‘B’, ‘W’, ‘W’, ‘W’, ‘B’ and ‘[?G Sh...]’ centre right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
As Finberg recognised,1 this is one half of a double-page view down the River Thames, looking north-east from the bank in the vicinity of ‘The Limes’, Mortlake, with Chiswick on the north side to the left, and Barnes on the right, continuing on folio 13 recto (D18728), under which the subject is discussed. The isolated skyline above appears to be an extension to the left. The prospect is now dominated by Barnes Bridge, carrying the railway over the river.
At the bottom left is a detail of the north-west corner of ‘The Limes’, with part of its classical portico2 and its upper storeys, which overlook the river.

Matthew Imms
December 2014

1
See Finberg 1909, II, p.648; see also Frick Collection, I, 1968, pp.131, 132 note 1.
2
See Butlin, Wilton and Gage 1974, p.102.

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘The River Thames at Mortlake, Looking North-East towards Chiswick and Barnes; the Porch of ‘The Limes’ 1825 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, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-river-thames-at-mortlake-looking-north-east-towards-r1172849, accessed 21 November 2024.