- Title:
- Iron and Coal: the Industry of the Tyne
- Object name(s):
- Watercolour
- Brief description:
- Watercolour depicting a group of men working in an iron foundry, their arms raised in labour, using long-handled hammers to pound an object in the fire. They are surrounded by machinery, and in the lower left corner sits a young girl and her dog.
- Collection:
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Associated concept:
- Paintings
- Associated concept:
- Industry & Trade
- Content - concept:
- Industry, Mining
- Content - concept:
- Machinery, Tools
- Content - place:
- Northumberland
- Current reproduction location:
- https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011FA5587/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg
- Location type:
- Thumbnail
- Dimension:
- Height
- Dimension measured part:
- painted area
- Dimension measurement unit:
- mm
- Dimension value:
- 245
- Dimension:
- Width
- Dimension measured part:
- painted area
- Dimension measurement unit:
- mm
- Dimension value:
- 238
- Material:
- watercolour
- Object history note:
- Many patrons of the Pre-Raphaelites and buyers of their works were not based in London and the south, but in the midlands and the north: the new industrialists and manufacturers. In 1856, Sir Walter Trevelyan, whose ancestors had made the family fortune in the coal and lead mining industry, commissioned Scott to decorate the large hall of their house, Wallington, thirty miles north-west of Newcastle. The eight large panels narrated the history of Northumberland, and Iron and coal is the last in the series, bringing the story up to the present day. This is a watercolour version of the composition, a celebration of the contemporary success of the city of Newcastle, its industry and commerce. The small girl looking away from the scene, prettily dressed and holding her school arithmetic book, like others of her class and generation will benefit from the new prosperity brought by mining, engineering, and invention.
- Object name:
- Watercolour
- Object number:
- 362-1891
- Object production date:
- ca. 1857-1861
- Date - association:
- painted
- Date - earliest / single:
- 1852-01-01
- Date - latest:
- 1861-12-31
- Object production person:
- Scott, William Bell
- Person's association:
- artist
- Object production place:
- England
- Place association:
- painted
- Physical description:
- Watercolour depicting a group of men working in an iron foundry, their arms raised in labour, using long-handled hammers to pound an object in the fire. They are surrounded by machinery, and in the lower left corner sits a young girl and her dog.
- Reproduction number:
- 2011FA5587
- Reproduction number:
- 2006AV7631
- Responsible department/section:
- PDP
- Style:
- British school
- Technique:
- painting
- Technique:
- Watercolour
- Text reason:
- Collections online record
- Text:
- In the 19th century, newly rich industrialists and manufacturers from the North of England were keen to purchase works of art. In 1856 Sir Walter Trevelyan, whose ancestors had founded the family fortune in the lead and mining industry, commissioned William Bell Scott (1811-1890) to decorate the hall of his house, Wallington, in Northumberland. This watercolour is a version of the work that Scott carried out at Wallington. It is a celebration of the contemporary success of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, its industry and commerce.
- Text reason:
- Summary description
- User's reference:
- Reference:
- Coombs, Katherine British watercolours : 1750-1950 . London: V&A Publications, 2012
- User's reference:
- Reference:
- O'Mahony, Claire. Brunel and the Art of Invention . Bristol: Samsom & Company Ltd., 2006. 64 p. : col. ill. ISBN 1904537502
- User's reference:
- Reference details:
- p.97, pl.87
- User's reference:
- Reference:
- Ge,,a Brace, Rachael Nee and Christina Payne, 'Fire. Flashes to Ashes in British Art 1692 - 2019', RWA, Sanson & Company, 2019.
- Reference details:
- pp. 52-3
Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/5641bb8f-d845-3399-b273-40956e47a676
Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC
Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/5641bb8f-d845-3399-b273-40956e47a676, Victoria and Albert Museum, CC BY-NC
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