Oil painting, 'A Wherry on a Norfolk Broad', formerly attributed to John Crome

Landscape painting in oil on canvas showing a moonlit scene of a Wherry on a Norfolk Broad.

Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides

Purchased by constantine Alexander Ionides before November 1881, and estimated by himself at £100 (his inventory, private collection). Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides, 1900.

Historical significance: When this landscape entered the V&A collections as part of the Ionides bequest in 1900 it was attributed to the Norwich School artist John Crome (1768-1821). The painting came in to the museum with an extract from a sales catalogue with "Old Crome" written on it, which has been pasted on to the back of the painting, suggesting that this is quite an old attribution. A note on the object file states that P. M. Turner supported this attribution to Crome in 1915. In his book Crome Collins challenged the attribution (p.199) and it is now acknowledged that the painting is by a follower of the artist. Crome's works became increasingly popular in the years following his death. It is plausible that this is one of the many works created by an imitator of the artist in response to the growing demand for works by Crome.

The son of a journeyman and weaver, John Crome worked as a painter, printmaker and teacher. Early influences on Crome came from the local artists William Beechey and John Opie. Crome also benefited from his friendship with the collector and amateur artist Thomas Harvey. Harvey's collection included works by Dutch seventeenth century masters including Jacob van Ruisdael (1628-1682), Meindert Hobbema (1638-1707) and Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691), as well as eighteenth century British artists Richard Wilson (1713-1782) and Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788). Crome was one of the most significant artists of the Norwich school, which flourished in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. He was one of the founding members of the Norwich Society of Artists in 1803. Although often criticized for the "unfinished" quality of his works, within a week of his death people were reported as being desperate to acquire works by the artist. The importance of the figure, combined with his unfinished style and the demand for his work after his death, explains the number of works, such as CAI 108, produced in imitation of those of John Crome.

In this landscape painting a Wherry is shown sailing down a moonlit Norfolk broad. A wherry is a type of boat that was used for transporting cargo and passengers along the canals of England. By the eighteenth century ‘Norfolk Wherry’ was the name given to the boat that had been developed to replace the earlier "Norfolk Keel". The large sails of the boat in this landscape are typical of the Norfolk Wherry. The artist of CAI 108 follows the example of John Crome by representing a subject that evokes life in Norfolk. As well as the Wherry, the windmill in the left distance of the painting is a typical feature of the Norfolk landscape. The choice of depicting the scene by moonlight recalls the work of John Crome and in particular his son, John Berney Crome (1794-1842).

The Norwich School is a name applied to a group of Landscape painters working in the early nineteenth century who were associated with the Norwich Society of Fine Arts, established by John Crome (1768-1821) in 1803. The society was founded with the intention of "an Enquiry into the Rise, Progress and present state of Painting, Architecture and Sculpture, with a view to point out the Best Methods of Study to attain the Greater Perfection in these Arts." It included both professional and amateur artists. The society held exhibitions annually in Norwich from 1805-1825 and then from 1828-1833. The Norwich School was the first self-sustaining provincial artistic community in Britain. Its evolution was due to the relative insularity of both Norfolk merchants and gentry, who provided patronage through purchasing works as wells as employing many of the artists associated with the Norwich School as drawing masters for their wives and daughters. The artistic style of each artist within the Norwich School is often very different. For example the work of the two main figures in the Norwich School, John Crome (1768-1821) and John Sell Cotman (1782-1842) are very different. Crome's paintings, mainly produced in oil, reflect the influence of the Dutch seventeenth-century landscapes, whilst Cotman employs a more elegant topographical approach, often through the medium of watercolour. The Norwich School artists were united through their depiction of local landscape rather than the employment of a particular style. Crome was perhaps one of the most influential members of the school. This can be seen particularly in the work of his pupils George Vincent (1796-1832) and James Stark (1794-1859).

CAI.108