Details
English Provincial School, circa 1730
The Jolly Sailor Inn at Saltford Weir and Lock near Bristol
oil on panel
25¼ x 66in. (64.2 x 167.6cm.)
The Jolly Sailor Inn at Saltford Weir and Lock near Bristol
oil on panel
25¼ x 66in. (64.2 x 167.6cm.)
Provenance
Originally with the Jolly Sailor Inn.
Saltford Weir and Lock were installed close to the 'Jolly Sailor' as part of a project to make the River Avon between Bath and Bristol navigable. The River Avon Navigation project was originally commenced in 1724 when a body of subscribers was set up in Bath and under power granted twelve years earlier these Proprietors of Navigation began the task of improving the river between Bath and Hanham Mills.
In the Spring of 1725 John Hoare of Newbury was appointed Chief Manager of the Works, Bristol engineer John Padmore also played a prominent worker in the project, and his tasks included the lock at Saltford for which he was paid in October 1727. By then the Navigation was nearing completion and in December of that year the first barge went all the way to Bath.
The Miller's House (later the Jolly Sailor) depicted grandly in the centre at the picture suggests that the miller may have commissioned this painting. References by the proprietors in February 1726 to a "Mr Faux at Saltform Paper Mills" gives us his name. To the left of the Miller's House is the Mill. The lock lies between the sloping gardens of the house and the artificial island in the foreground secured by stakes, but its outlines are obscured by the difficulties of perspective and the failure to allow for changes of water level. The level of activity on the river suggests that this painting dates from at least 1728 when the locks were completed and the river fully navigable.
Saltford Weir and Lock were installed close to the 'Jolly Sailor' as part of a project to make the River Avon between Bath and Bristol navigable. The River Avon Navigation project was originally commenced in 1724 when a body of subscribers was set up in Bath and under power granted twelve years earlier these Proprietors of Navigation began the task of improving the river between Bath and Hanham Mills.
In the Spring of 1725 John Hoare of Newbury was appointed Chief Manager of the Works, Bristol engineer John Padmore also played a prominent worker in the project, and his tasks included the lock at Saltford for which he was paid in October 1727. By then the Navigation was nearing completion and in December of that year the first barge went all the way to Bath.
The Miller's House (later the Jolly Sailor) depicted grandly in the centre at the picture suggests that the miller may have commissioned this painting. References by the proprietors in February 1726 to a "Mr Faux at Saltform Paper Mills" gives us his name. To the left of the Miller's House is the Mill. The lock lies between the sloping gardens of the house and the artificial island in the foreground secured by stakes, but its outlines are obscured by the difficulties of perspective and the failure to allow for changes of water level. The level of activity on the river suggests that this painting dates from at least 1728 when the locks were completed and the river fully navigable.