Sam Smiles's new book reexamines J.M.W. Turner's ties to slavery and the inspiration for 'The Slave Ship'

Sam Smiles's 2007 article first revealed J.M.W. Turner's 1805 investment in a Jamaican 'dry sugar work pen,' a property reliant on enslaved labor. His new book, 'Turner and the Slave Trade,' expands on this, detailing Turner's financial links to patrons like John 'Mad Jack' Fuller, an MP opposed to abolition. The publication, released on 25 November 2025 by the Paul Mellon Centre, includes 224 pages with 90 color illustrations. It challenges the long-held belief that Turner's 1840 painting 'The Slave Ship' (also known as 'Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying – Typhoon Coming On') depicts the 1781 Zong massacre. Instead, Smiles argues it reflects contemporary jettison practices, building on earlier work by John McCoubrey. The painting, housed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has influenced cultural works like Mike Leigh's 2014 film 'Mr. Turner' and Winsome Pinnock's 2018 play 'Rockets and Blue Lights.' Turner's early career connections to slavery include teenage visits to Bristol and commissions from estates funded by Caribbean plantations. Smiles's research draws on Sarah Thomas's 2019 book 'Witnessing Slavery: Art and Travel in the Age of Abolition' and was referenced in the 2021 'Turner's Modern World' exhibition at Tate Britain and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The book avoids inferring Turner's motives, leaving readers to assess his conflicted stance.