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The Maltings, Saffron Walden

Watercolour
1941 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Saffron Walden, one of the oldest settled areas in Essex, derived its name from the saffron that was cultivated there from the fourteenth century. In the seventeenth century, barley replaced saffron as the main local source of income, and the malting industry flourished. Indeed, in the nineteenth century, the town's skyline was dominated by the maltings' conical roofs. By the time Robins arrived in Saffron Walden to paint the maltings, they were at the end of their useful lives: the last one closed shortly after the end of the war.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • The Maltings, Saffron Walden (assigned by artist)
  • Recording Britain Collection (named collection)
Materials and techniques
Pen and ink and wash on paper
Brief description
Watercolour, 'The Maltings, Saffron Walden', by William P. Robins, Saffron Walden, 1941; from the Recording Britain Collection (Essex).
Physical description
A monochrome wash drawing showing the maltings (presumably one of the last surviving) at Saffron Walden. Signed, dated and titled.
Dimensions
  • Height: 8.50in
  • Width: 14.50in
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'Wm. P. Robins 1941' (Signed in ink by the artist, lower right)
  • 'The Maltings, Saffron Walden' (Inscribed in ink by the artist below signature)
Credit line
Given by the Pilgrim Trust
Object history
This work is from the 'Recording Britain' collection of topographical watercolours and drawings made in the early 1940s during the Second World War. In 1940 the Committee for the Employment of Artists in Wartime, part of the Ministry of Labour and National Service, launched a scheme to employ artists to record the home front in Britain, funded by a grant from the Pilgrim Trust. It ran until 1943 and some of the country's finest watercolour painters, such as John Piper, Sir William Russell Flint and Rowland Hilder, were commissioned to make paintings and drawings of buildings, scenes, and places which captured a sense of national identity. Their subjects were typically English: market towns and villages, churches and country estates, rural landscapes and industries, rivers and wild places, monuments and ruins. Northern Ireland was not covered, only four Welsh counties were included, and a separate scheme ran in Scotland.

The scheme was known as 'Recording the changing face of Britain' and was established by Sir Kenneth Clark, then the director of the National Gallery. It ran alongside the official War Artists' Scheme, which he also initiated. Clark was inspired by several motives: at the outbreak of war in 1939, there was a concern to document the British landscape in the face of the imminent threat of bomb damage, invasion, and loss caused by the operations of war. This was allied to an anxiety about changes to the landscape already underway, such as the rapid growth of cities, road building and housing developments, the decline of rural ways of life and industries, and new agricultural practices, which together contributed to the idea of a 'vanishing Britain'. Clark also wanted to help artists, and the traditional forms of British art such as watercolour painting, to survive during the uncertain conditions of wartime. He in turn was inspired by America's Federal Arts Project which was designed to give artists employment during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Over 1500 works were eventually produced by 97 artists, of whom 63 were specially commissioned. At the time the collection had a propaganda role, intended to boost national morale by celebrating Britain's landscapes and heritage. Three exhibitions were held during the war at the National Gallery, and pictures from the collection were sent on touring exhibitions and to galleries all around the country. After the war, the whole collection was given to the V&A by the Pilgrim Trust in 1949, and it was documented in a four volume catalogue published between 1946 and 1949. For many years the majority of the collection was on loan to councils and record offices in each county, until recalled by the V&A around 1990. The pictures now form a memorial to the war effort, and a unique record of their time.
Historical context
After the cultivation of saffron was superseded by cheaper foreign imports in the 17th century, Saffron Walden's main source of income was the cultivation of barley. The malting industry flourished there until the 20th century; the last maltings closed in the 1940s.
Subjects depicted
Places depicted
Summary
Saffron Walden, one of the oldest settled areas in Essex, derived its name from the saffron that was cultivated there from the fourteenth century. In the seventeenth century, barley replaced saffron as the main local source of income, and the malting industry flourished. Indeed, in the nineteenth century, the town's skyline was dominated by the maltings' conical roofs. By the time Robins arrived in Saffron Walden to paint the maltings, they were at the end of their useful lives: the last one closed shortly after the end of the war.
Bibliographic references
  • Catalogue of Drawings in the 'Recording Britain' Collection given by the Pilgrim Trust to the Victoria and Albert Museum published by the Victoria and Albert Museum, Prints, Drawings and Paintings Department, 1951.
  • Palmer, Arnold, ed. Recording Britain. London: Oxford University Press, 1946-49. Vol 2: Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire, Northhamptonshire and Rutlandshire, Norfolk, Yorkshire. p.1.
Collection
Accession number
E.1401-1949

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Record createdNovember 24, 2005
Record URL
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