Fish and Eggs

Discussing the still life paintings of the late 1940s, Alan Bowness (William Scott: Paintings, London, 1964, p.7) comments: 'The elements themselves are of the simplest - an earthenware bowl, a black frying pan, an iron toasting fork, a white cloth, a bare kitchen table. They are all old country objects, known to Scott from childhood, and permanently familiar. Though he always painted from memory and not from the objects themselves, some were in fact hanging on the walls of his studio at Hallatrow where he worked. He called them: 'symbols of the life I know best ... things that I think make some kind of basic impression in my painting'. In other still life paintings ... the range of properties is extended to include saucepans' dishes and spoons; a wire basket and a fish slice; and food that goes with these kitchen utensils - eggs, lemons, beans and onions, and fish, usually mackerel or herrings or sprats'.

A painting of 'Mackerel on a Plate' from 1951-52 is the collection of the Tate Gallery, London.

This work is registered in the William Scott Archive as No.1752.