Study of dead game: woodcock, oyster catcher and hare

Details

Joseph Mallord William Turner, R.A. (1775-1851)
Study of dead game: woodcock, oyster catcher and hare
pencil and watercolour
8 x 8 in. (20.3 x 20.3 cm.)

Provenance

Caroline Sophia Booth, from whom purchased by
Rev. W. H. Churchill, circa 1897 and by descent to
Arnold Churchill from whom purchased by
The Fry Gallery, London, 1985, from whom purchased by the present owner.

Exhibited

London, The Tate Gallery, Turner and Natural History. The Farnley Project, 10 October-11 December 1988, no. 41.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

The present watercolour was traditionally believed to have been found towards the end of the 19th Century in a boarding house on Cold Harbour, Margate, which was run by Caroline Sophia Booth, Turner's companion in his later years. However stylistically the drawing must date from an earlier period, circa 1815 to 1820, as it shares many features in common with the bird studies Turner made at Farnley.

There are however some oddities about the composition which are raised by Annie Lyles in her catalogue entry for the Tate exhibition Turner and Natural History. The Farnley Project, 1988, namely the compositional arrangements of the dead game, which have neither the simplicity of some studies or the visual complexity of others, see op.cit. nos, 42, 43 and 51.

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