A new acquisition for the Beecroft Art Gallery…..
Thomas Sewell Robins (c.1809-1880) ‘Trawling Boat off Sheerness’ (1857)
The
gallery was delighted to acquire at auction this wonderful watercolour by
Thomas Sewell Robins in 2005 with the generous help of the Museums
Libraries and Archives/ V&A Purchase Fund, the National Art
Collections Fund and the Friends of Southend Museums.
The painting is a rare depiction of shrimping vessels working from Leigh-on-Sea in the mid 19th century. It illustrates a fishing method which is scarcely documented pre-1900 and is now long out of use.
By the 1850’s Leigh shrimpers were large enough to tow more than one net and towed up to four by the 1890’s. In this picture the trawls, which were particular to Leigh fishing boats, are extremely well observed and it can be seen that the middle trawl is being lifted by the fishermen.
The painting will be on display in the gallery throughout 2006