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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1836-47 Modern painter > Louis-Philippe at Portsmouth 1844 > Louis-Philippe at Portsmouth sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Semaphore Tower and Other Waterfront Buildings at Portsmouth; the Cupola of Portsmouth Cathedral 1844

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Semaphore Tower and Other Waterfront Buildings at Portsmouth; the Cupola of Portsmouth Cathedral’ 1844
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 15 Recto:
The Semaphore Tower and Other Waterfront Buildings at Portsmouth; the Cupola of Portsmouth Cathedral 1844
D35711
Turner Bequest CCCLXII 15
Pencil on white wove paper, 116 x 74 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘15’ top right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCCLXII – 15’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Like the other rapid sketches in this book, this relates to the arrival of Louis-Philippe, King of the French, at Portsmouth Harbour on 8 October 1844, as discussed in the Introductions to the sketchbook and the overall section.
With the page turned vertically, there are various slightly jumbled waterfront views around the harbour’s mouth, including the Square Tower semaphore station and the tower of Portsmouth Cathedral,1 with a separate study of its cupola. Compare various detailed views, perhaps made in the summer of 1824, in the London Bridge and Portsmouth sketchbook (for example Tate D17944; Turner Bequest CCVI 16a). For other views of the semaphore tower, see under folio 2 verso (Tate D35688).

Matthew Imms
September 2016

1
See Warrell 2013, p.10.

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘The Semaphore Tower and Other Waterfront Buildings at Portsmouth; the Cupola of Portsmouth Cathedral 1844 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, March 2017, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-semaphore-tower-and-other-waterfront-buildings-at-r1185655, accessed 17 July 2024.