Watercolor and gouache, with scraping and gum on medium, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 11 1/4 x 17 1/4 inches (28.5 x 43.8 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1981.25.2042
Gallery Label:
Samuel Jackson, native of Bristol, took this view of the celebrated Avon Gorge looking out toward the Bristol Channel from Clifton Down. He includes several ships plying their trade on the Avon as emblems of Bristol’s importance as a major commercial port. But that commercial eminence had been based squarely on the transatlantic slave trade, which was abolished by Act of Parliament in 18o7 prior to the total ending of slavery itself in 1833. Thereafter Bristol’s fortunes began to decline, and this awkward passage up and down the Avon, however scenic, became increasingly unsuitable for larger, modern commercial shipping. Gallery label for Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2008-06-09 - 2008-08-17)