Circa 1824
Prepared for The Rivers of England
Pencil and watercolour on paper

This watercolour appears to have been prepared for the Rivers of England series, although it was not in the event included in that publication.  Subsequently, Turner produced a modified version of the image as one of a group of experimental mezzotints that he created in the early 1820s, seemingly as a means of understanding the potential for engraving on the newly available steel plates.

There is a high degree of freedom in the brushwork at the lower part of the picture, where the nearest boat and its passengers are reflected in the water. Here Turner has made use of the blank paper by wiping away the colour. This is used to particular effect in the rainbow and its reflection. There is also a softness of handling throughout the picture which evokes the hazy, damp atmosphere following the recent storm. As one commentator has put it, ‘Sometimes the weather he had endured in a particular spot left such a lasting impression that he was unable to record the place without reproducing the effect.’

Turner had spent time on the river four years before, sketching shipping of various types in the Medway sketchbook (TB CXCIX), and there are sketches of boats at sail, and studies of hulks that he must have drawn upon for this picture. Despite the ‘sketchy style’ and hazy appearance, Turner has not sacrificed accuracy or incident. The row of huge battleships have been stripped of their main masts and rigging to be laid up ‘in ordinary.’ Rowing towards the ships a boat carries sailors and women who have come to look at the mighty warships. One woman lowers her umbrella; the stormy weather having passed to be replaced by the tranquility of a gentle breeze and rainbow.