Ships in a Breeze, part II, plate 10 from "Liber Studiorum"

Designed and etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner British
Engraved and published by Charles Turner British
February 20, 1808
Not on view
Turner distilled his ideas about landscape In "Liber Studiorum" (Latin for Book of Studies), a series of seventy prints plus a frontispiece published between 1807 and 1819. To establish the compositions, he made brown watercolor drawings, then etched outlines onto copper plates. Professional engravers usually developed the tone under Turner's direction, and Charles Turner here added mezzotint to describe five fully rigged ships passing close to an anchored three-masted vessel as figures watch from a wooden pier. The image is based on a painting owned by the Earl of Egremeont, and the letter "M" in the upper margin indicates Turner's category of Marine landscape.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Ships in a Breeze, part II, plate 10 from "Liber Studiorum"
  • Series/Portfolio: Liber Studiorum
  • Artist: Designed and etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner (British, London 1775–1851 London)
  • Artist: Engraved and published by Charles Turner (British, Woodstock, Oxfordshire 1774–1857 London)
  • Date: February 20, 1808
  • Medium: Etching and mezzotint; first state of five (Finberg)
  • Dimensions: plate: 7 3/16 x 10 3/16 in. (18.3 x 25.9 cm)
    sheet: 8 1/8 x 11 7/16 in. (20.6 x 29.1 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928
  • Object Number: 28.97.10
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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