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

Turner filled much of this page with cursory descriptions of coastal terrain and harbour infrastructure. The town in the drawing second from the bottom (inverted in relation to the sketchbook as foliated) is Southampton, identifiable by the needle-like medieval spire of St Michael’s Church. Turner had sketched comparable views of the port on several occasions over the course of his career; see for example Tate D00418 (Turner Bequest XXIV 12) and D18108 (Turner Bequest CCVII 61a). Southampton offered a regular steam packet service to the Channel Islands, whose coasts and towns are the subject of extensive study in this sketchbook. ¹ Along the left-hand edge of the page are sketches of dense woodland, which continue over onto folio 10 verso opposite (D23540; Turner Bequest CCLII 10a). The town recurs on folios 27 verso (D23571; Turner Bequest CCLII 27a), 28 verso (D23573; Turner Bequest CCLII 28a); 45 verso (D23604; Turner Bequest CCLII 45a), 47 recto (D23607; Turner Bequest CCLII 47a), and 65 verso (D23644; Turner Bequest CCLII 65a).