English: View on the Scheldt, 1826, Clarkson Frederick Stanfield V&A Museum no. 366-1901

Techniques - oil on panel

Dimensions - Height 40.7 cm (estimate), Width 54.3 cm (estimate), Height 62 cm (framed), Width 76 cm (framed)

Object Type - Oil paintings of seascapes and shipping in the Dutch manner were collected in Britain from the 17th century when the Dutch started making them in quantity. British artists also painted similar scenes to meet the demand from collectors. This painting is a smaller version of `A market boat on the Scheldt' painted by Stanfield in the same year (1826), although the colouring is more subdued and its tones are closer to a 17th-century Dutch example.

Places - The river Scheldt was a favourite locality for Dutch marine painters for centuries. It runs from northern France, through Belgium and into the North Sea. Stanfield shows a scene near the mouth of the river.

People -

Clarkson Stanfield was a painter in oils and watercolours, mainly of landscapes and marine views. The son of an actor, J. F. Stanfield, he went to sea as a young boy and was press-ganged into the Royal Navy, but he left the service after being injured. He painted stage scenery for theatres in London, where he was a friend and rival to David Roberts. Stanfield also made dioramas and panoramas. His subjects for theatrical, easel and illustrative work were drawn mainly from extensive tours in Britain and Europe