Norwich Castle Companion Notes

British Masters and Landscape & Nature Galleries
This pack has been produced for use by visually impaired visitors
and their companions.
The pack contains eight reproductions of paintings from our
collections and descriptions of them printed on the reverse.
The notes are intended to be read aloud, and to be an audio description of each
art work. They may also give extra information on the painting and the artist who
painted it.
A plan of the galleries is also included in the pack showing where the paintings
can be found.
We welcome any feedback relating to these Companion Notes or any other
Access issues.
Please contact the Adult Learning Officer
Tel:01603 495887 or 07785300555
Email: museums.norfolk.gov.uk
Joseph Stannard: ‘The River at Thorpe’
An oil painting on canvas by Joseph Stannard 1797-1830 called ‘The River at Thorpe’
The painting is approximately 97.7 cm x 111.6 cm (38” x 44”). It is a large painting set in a gold colour
frame decorated with scrolls and with particularly ornate corners.
‘The River at Thorpe’ depicts a warm summer in late afternoon that is about to take a turn for the
worse. It shows the placid calm before the approaching storm. There is little breeze to stir the sails of
the boats, but the scene has a sense of foreboding due to the towering dark clouds looming into the
left of the painting. The only movement hinted at is the stirring of the pennants hanging from the masts
of the boats. The view is painted as if you are standing in the scene, unnoticed, in the foreground,
beside the chalk bank to the left of the painting and broken fences on the right.
In the foreground, a wherry with furled brown sails is laden with reeds. Three men, a young boy and
their dog appear to be resting on these reeds, perhaps after a hard day’s work. They are wearing
clothes in bright colours, which make them stand out against the rest of the painting. To the right, at
the centre of the composition, a little further down the river, another boat is being rowed along by one
man, whilst his standing companion points to an indistinct area of the scene, perhaps the oncoming
bad weather. Cattle stand on the far bank of the river, and in the river itself, sheltered by birch trees.
More cows lie amongst the trees in the field beyond. There are two houses shown in this scene; one,
in the left hand mid ground of the painting, and the other in the centre background of the painting.
Beyond, on the turn of the river, a third vessel carrying another two people sails away from the scene.
In the background to the right, a church steeple can be seen rising above the tree line, suggesting the
presence of a town or village. The low horizon line makes the dark clouds seem more dominant and
foreboding.
Eloise Harriet Stannard: 'Strawberries in a glass lid with glass bowl of raspberries behind’
An oil painting on canvas by Eloise Harriet Stannard (1829-1915) called 'Strawberries in a glass
lid with glass bowl of raspberries behind’ 1896
The painting is approximately 28.0 cm x 35.6 cm (11” x 14”), and is set in a fairly plain deep frame with
a thin beaded section next to the painting.
A large cut glass bowl full of raspberries almost fills the centre of the canvas, and in front of it, taking
up half of the right foreground is a glass plate overflowing with ripe strawberries.
The bowl and plate are sitting on a dark wood surface and the background to the painting is mid to
dark brown.
Light reflecting off the glass picks out the design of the heavy cut glass bowl and the outline of the
glass plate.
The fruit looks freshly picked and some have leaves and stalks still attached.
Almost hidden in the centre of the raspberry bowl, a wasp is enjoying the juicy fruit, and in the middle
foreground of the picture, a strawberry has fallen off the plate, and it looks as if someone has eaten
one and left the hull there.
Slightly behind the fallen strawberry are two raspberries complete with leaves.
The painting is signed and dated 'E H Stannard / 1896' on the lower left hand corner.
Eloise Harriet was a successful still life painter. She regularly exhibited her work in London, both at the
Royal Academy and the British Institution.
John Crome: ‘The Fishmarket’
An oil painting on canvas by John Crome 1768-1821 called ‘The Fishmarket’ Boulogne circa
1820
This is the third and last of the Continental scenes that Crome painted after his only trip abroad in
1814. It is a busy scene, which shows fishermen selling their catch straight from their boats drawn up
on the sandy beach.
It is unusual for Crome to include so many figures in a painting. Like Boulevard des Italiens [hung next
to it], there are both fashionably dressed figures as well as those in their work clothes, and there are
women wearing different types of French national headdress and clogs.
The top half of the painting is of a blue sky with some clouds sun lit from the left of the painting. The
sun throws long shadows on the sand which tell us that it is the end of the day.
The main focus of the painting is on a group of people gathered around two fish stalls, one in the
centre of the scene and the other slightly behind it to the left.
In the left foreground a man in a fisherman’s smock is unloading some crates full of silvery fish and in
the right foreground two men, one in a bright yellow jacket and hat are passing the time of day. A small
black dog is sitting between them. Close by, a woman with a child is hurrying past and a smartly
dressed woman is walking away from the fish stalls carrying her purchases.
In the mid distance the hills to the back of Boulogne rise up behind the sails of boats bobbing on what
remains of the outgoing tide.
Technical information: Infrared light has revealed an under-drawing which includes details of the
figures. Crome added some, and decided against others, during the painting process.
John Sell Cotman: ‘The Waterfall’
An oil painting on canvas by John Sell Cotman 1782-1842 called ‘The Waterfall’ circa 1807-8
The painting is ‘portrait style’ and measurers approximately 61.5cm x 44cm (18”x 24”.)
In the middle of the painting and slightly above centre is what looks like a stone church with a solid,
rather squat, square tower. The church sits among corn fields which have been recently cut, and as
the trees are beginning to turn yellow and gold it looks like the end of the summer. In front of the
church is a stone roman bridge which spans a river, and cuts the painting in half horizontally. In the
centre of the bridge a man is walking from right to left with some cattle in front of him, and both the
church buildings and the bridge are built in warm light ochre coloured stone.
A dramatic waterfall pours out from underneath the bridge and plunges down between the trees
framing it just right of centre.
It is a cloudy day, but a small patch of blue sky can be seen high on the left of the painting and some
touches of apricot and gold in the sky, where it meets the horizon on the right hand side, could mean
the weather is about to change for the better.
Four versions of this painting exist, including an atmospheric pencil and grey wash drawing in Norwich
Castle’s collection.
Technical information: Cotman has pasted a very fine weave fabric over the coarsely woven canvas.
He has used the texture of both materials in his technique. The fine weave can be seen in the mist
produced by the waterfall.
James Stark: 'Sheep Washing’
An oil painting on mahogany panel by James Stark 1794-1859 called 'Sheep Washing’
Undated and approximately 61.7 cm x 81.4 cm (24” x 32”). This is a large painting set in a very ornate gold
coloured frame decorated with stylised flowers and leaves.
The scene is based on a view of Postwick Grove east of Norwich, although by the time Stark painted it many
trees had been felled to make way for agriculture.
A hillside dominates the background on the right hand side of the painting and there are trees in front of this
and on the left of the scene. The trees frame a view of the fields beyond which are lit by the sun. There are
two small dilapidated stone buildings in the middle distance.
In the foreground is the river, flowing from right to left. On the right of the picture a herd of sheep is being
driven down though the trees to be washed.
A shepherd, wearing a blue waistcoat and a black hat, is standing in the river washing a sheep, another
shepherd wearing a red waistcoat and green head scarf is waiting with more sheep on the bank. Behind the
trees the rest of the flock can be seen walking down to the river with a third shepherd.
A wooden fence extends into the river from right to left to contain the sheep, three of whom have made their
way to the bank at the front of the painting.
It is late summer, the leaves are beginning to turn bronze and although the foreground is mostly in shade the
men’s white shirts, the sheep on the bank and some of the tree trunks are bathed in sunlight on the right of
the picture.
Sheep Washing represents a composition and subject that is typical of the work of James Stark, and of the
Norwich School painters in general. Stark produced five paintings of this subject throughout his career.
George Vincent: ‘Trowse Meadows
An oil painting on canvas by George Vincent (1796-1832) called ‘Trowse Meadows, near
Norwich’ 1828
It is approximately 72.9 cm x 109.4 cm (29” x 43”). A large painting set in an elaborate gold coloured
frame, it has ornate details on the corners which are decorated with leaves and scrolls.
Looking over Trowse Meadows towards Whitlingham, the painting shows the process of hay being cut
and stacked at the far right and loaded onto a wagon in the centre. The treatment of the trees and the
spectacular cloud formation, lit by an invisible sun, are all features associated with the best of Vincent’s
late work.
This is a sunny harvest scene, with lots of activity. In the centre are two hay carts. One, fully laden, is
pulled by two horses (one white one black) and is being led across the river by a man wearing a white
hat and carrying a switch. There is a man on top of the hay wearing a blue shirt.
On the opposite side of the river, nearer to us, is a family group. A man wearing a white shirt is sitting
on the bank with his back to us and in front of him, standing, is a woman carrying a small child. A black
dog is sitting next to them.
In the left foreground a few cattle are grazing in the shade of some trees, and a white cow is standing
in the shallow water drinking.
The foreground of the painting is in shade but the sun lights up the scene on the other side of the river,
and in the distance we can see grazing cattle and sheep over to the left in front of some cottages. The
route of the river winding its way into the mid distance is marked by the white sails of a dinghy and by
the bare masts of other boats. A small group of people are making their way from the sailing dinghy
across the meadow towards the front of the painting and on the right, in the distance smoke curls
upwards from a cottage chimney.
John Sell Cotman: ‘The Baggage Wagon’
An Oil on paper pasted onto a mahogany panel by John Sell Cotman 1782-1842, called ‘The
Baggage Wagon’ circa 1824-8
It is approximately 43.0 cm x 35.2 cm (17” x 14”). This is a fairly small painting in a matt gold colour
frame which has faintly embossed leaves at the corners.
The most dominant feature of this painting is a large dark leafed tree. Its trunk is just left of the centre
of the painting but the branches extend over to the right of the scene. It is mid summer, and the trees
are in full leaf and overhang a rough country mountain road. The road has a steep camber, and we see
the back of a rickety covered wagon with large wooden wheels making its way around a corner in the
centre of the picture. On the right of the wagon is a man riding a white horse. He is wearing a bright
red coat and a black triangular hat. The wagon looks as if it may topple over and the man is riding at
the edge of the path, perhaps to help prop it up if it should start to fall.
The road has a stone wall on either side, and where the mountain drops away to the right we can see
a lake far below and the white sail of a sailing boat.
Although the foreground is in full sun, the road under the trees is dark and shady and the lake and the
hills beyond it are dark blue, but above the horizon in the distance the yellowy orange sky, suggests
that it is towards the end of a warm summer day.
This work was painted on a re-used cupboard door. Cotman stuck paper on top of it, possibly to cover
the horizontal joins in the panels. However, he used the costly pigment ultramarine in the sky of The
Baggage Wagon, which suggests he was not lacking in money for materials.
John Crome: 'Yarmouth Jetty’
An oil painting on canvas by John Crome 1768-1821 called 'Yarmouth Jetty’ circa 1807-8
It is approximately 43.8 cm x 61.4 cm (17” x 24”). This is a medium sized painting set in a dark gold
coloured frame decorated with leaves.
The top two thirds of the painting are of a dramatic sky. Dark rain clouds dominate the left hand side of
the image with lighter clouds to the right. A small patch of blue sky can be seen behind them, but it
looks like rain cannot be far away.
The sandy beach in the foreground is full of activity. There are fishing boats, some with brown sails,
and fishermen working on them. There are two horse drawn carts waiting to be loaded up by the
fishermen from their catch, and several barrels, buckets and basket-work fish cages are lying on the
sand nearby.
In the foreground a rowing boat is on its side, and there are four sailing dinghies along the foreshore in
the mid distance at the waters edge, which is painted diagonally from left to right.
A wooden jetty projects into the painting from the right across the beach and out into the cold green
sea. There is a ladder going down from it at the sea end, and people can be seen walking along the
top. Beyond the jetty there are more sails in the distance and out on the horizon a small sailing dinghy
is making its way in to the shore.
Crome frequently visited Great Yarmouth when he was drawing master to the family of Dawson
Turner. Its beach and jetty were popular subjects with artists and Crome showed six paintings of the
jetty as well as other Yarmouth scenes during his life. The jetty is shown here in a ramshackle state,
before it was repaired in 1808-9.