Tower of London and Customs House

Location

Country: Other
City: other locations abroad

In this night view of Gun Wharf, by the Tower of London, moored boats can be seen to the left of the composition. Shipping containers and items of winching equipment are seen in the foreground. To the right is St Thomas's Tower, part of the Tower of London, built between 1275 and 1279 by Edward I as additional royal accommodation. One of the windows within the tower is lit up and smoke rises from a chimney above. Outside the tower, two of the Queen’s guards stand motionless on the river bank, holding rifles. In the distance, further along the river, the Custom House building, designed by Sir Robert Smirke, can be seen.

A similar painting by Henry Pether, almost identical in composition and size, was sold through fine art auctioneer Christie's, in London, in 2006. Two other versions are in the collection of the Guildhall Art Gallery in London: one of the same dimensions, showing the tower in daylight, and another titled ‘Traitor's Gate, Tower of London’, which is smaller than this work.

Henry Pether was a painter of townscapes and landscapes. He was one of a family of painters who specialised in moonlit scenes and painted in a similar style. The most famous member of the family was Henry’s father, Abraham Pether (1756–1812). Pether exhibited seven paintings at the Royal Academy between 1828 and 1862. He also showed his work at the Royal Society of British Artists in Suffolk Street (1833-1834 and 1855) and at the British Institution (1865). During his career he moved several times, living at addresses in Southampton, Camden Town and south London, probably to escape his creditors. In 1837, The London Gazette reported that Pether was an inmate of a debtor’s prison and described his profession as ‘Surveyor, Artist, Engineer, and Architect’. Difficulty in making a sufficient income from painting alone may have led him to experiment with other occupations and entrepreneurial projects. In 1839 he and ‘Alfred Singer, of Vauxhall’ were granted a patent for ‘improvements in the preparation and combination of earthenware or porcelain for the purpose of mosaic’. Mr Singer went on to exhibit mosaic tiles at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and a review of the exhibition mentions Pether as one of those responsible for ‘re-introducing this very beautiful kind of decoration’. Pether continued his attempts to supplement his career as an artist with further patents for architectural materials in 1864 and 1867 and a patent for a lamp globe in 1876.

Places

England, River Thames, London, Tower of London, City of London, Custom House

Subjects

steamship, cart, crate, winch, topography, townscape/cityscape, evening, river, military uniform, backpack, soldier, guardsman, gate, harbour, dock, government building, fortification, wall, tower, ship, anchor

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

Henry Pether

Title

Tower of London and Customs House

Date

1853

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 61.00 cm, width: 92.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Agnew's, June 1975

Inscription

Sdbl

Provenance

With Agnew’s Gallery, London; from whom purchased in June 1975

GAC number

11978