Henry Scott Tuke, R.A., R.W.S. (1858-1929)
VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 2… Read more
Henry Scott Tuke, R.A., R.W.S. (1858-1929)

Steering the Punt

Details
Henry Scott Tuke, R.A., R.W.S. (1858-1929)
Steering the Punt
signed and dated 'H.S. TUKE. 1909' (lower left) and indistinctly inscribed '...Tuke/...dne Lodge. Harewell Rd/Steering the Punt' (on a fragmentary label on the backboard)
pencil and watercolour with gum arabic, on paper
10¼ x 7 in. (26 x 17.8 cm.)
Provenance
P.C. Brockenridge, Toronto.
Exhibited
London, Royal Watercolour Society, 1911, where purchased by P.C. Brockenridge of Toronto for £24.
Special notice
VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium.
Sale room notice
Please note that the estimate printed in the catalogue should read £20,000-30,000.

Brought to you by

Brandon Lindberg
Brandon Lindberg

Check the condition report or get in touch for additional information about this

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

Sign in
View condition report

Lot Essay

The present work is a fine example of Henry Scott Tuke's skill as both a portraitist and as a watercolourist. By 1909 when this picture was executed, Tuke was an Associate of the Royal Academy and was a renowned portrait painter of the rich and famous. He was also an Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society and although he mainly used watercolours for his maritime paintings of sailing ships and on his travels abroad, this work clearly shows his expertise in using the medium for figure painting.

Painted in Falmouth harbour, in Cornwall, the sitter is one of the many local lads Tuke used as models for his large figure compositions, the work features a boy steering a small working boat. He is using one oar at the back of the boat both as a means of propulsion and as a rudder. This technique was known as sculling and was often used by people working on boats in the harbour to go from ship to shore. Tuke owned a variety of boats as he used them as floating studios and he also loved to sail. He often employed local young men to take his art equipment from his cottage on the coast round to the secluded bays where he would set up the clothed and nude models for his bathing paintings.

We are grateful to Catherine Wallace for her help in preparing this catalogue entry.

More from Victorian & British Impressionist Art

View All
View All