Pool of London, Billingsgate to the Tower, Moonlight

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

Henry Pether’s skill for depicting moonlit scenes and in particular moonlight reflecting on water is evident in this work. However, it also demonstrates the painter’s accuracy and eye for detail in representing architectural subjects and even the rigging of each vessel moored on the Thames.

This view shows part of the Pool of London, a short section of the River Thames stretching from London Bridge to below Tower Bridge. While the Tower of London can be seen in the distance, the left of this composition is dominated by Billingsgate Market.

Several views by Henry Pether, showing the Pool of London and the Tower of London, have passed through auction houses. For example, a signed view of ‘Customs House, Pool of London, Tower beyond by Moonlight’, which has the same dimensions as this painting, was sold through Sotheby’s, London, in 1969.

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, Billingsgate, Tower of London, City of London, Pool of London, Billingsgate Fish Market

Subjects

rowing boat, topography, townscape/cityscape, evening, moon, river, railing, clock tower, tower, ship

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

Henry Pether

Title

Pool of London, Billingsgate to the Tower, Moonlight

Date

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 59.00 cm, width: 89.50 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from the Parker Gallery, June 1961

GAC number

5518