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Charles Napier Hemy(British, 1841-1917)'Along Shore fishermen' 56 x 76.2cm. (22 x 30in.)
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Find your local specialistCharles Napier Hemy (British, 1841-1917)
signed C. Napier Hemy' and dated 1890 (lower left), signed and inscribed on reverse
oil on canvas
56 x 76.2cm. (22 x 30in.)
Footnotes
Provenance :
Purchased directly from the artist for £125 in May 1890.
In a letter from Hemy, he comments with regard to this painting : "I painted it off St. Antony lighthouse on board my boat the Vander-Meer and I think I have caught something of the freshness of the sea. The net is what they call a tramel, and is set overnight and hauled in in the morning, and brings up mostly flat fish, John Doreys, Red Mullet. The fishermen never go out into deep water but set their nets close inshore, hence the name of the picture."
One of Britain’s best-known deep-water natural harbours is at Falmouth where, marking not only the entrance to the historic Carrick Roads but also the treacherous rocks known, menacingly, as the Manacles, is St. Anthony’s lighthouse. Erected by Trinity House in the early 1830s, after a long battle over the ownership of the land upon which it was to stand, the contract to build it was awarded to Jacob and Thomas Olver in March 1832. The initial phase was to excavate an extensive segment of the headland upon which to site the main structure but, thanks to the atrocious sea conditions which continually washed away both men and equipment, it was fully two years before the first masonry could be laid in May 1834. The highly distinctive octagonal tower, designed by James Walker, rose 63 feet to its gallery and was surmounted by a 19-foot lantern manufactured by Wilkins. The tower was also fitted with a large external brass fog bell which, at 2 tons in weight, was the heaviest ever used in a British lighthouse. First lit at 5.00pm. on 20th April 1835, with its beam set at 72 feet above sea-level, St. Anthony’s revolving white light – at 20-second intervals – was visible for sixteen nautical miles in clear weather.