Oil painting, 'Fishing Boat Entering Harbour', Jacob Jacobs, 1830s

A fishing boat on a roughish sea passes in front of a bell buoy in the attempt to reach the harbour whose walls are on the right.

Bequeathed by Rev. Chauncey Hare Townshend

Bequeathed by Rev. Chauncy Hare Townshend, 1868
Ref : Parkinson, Ronald, Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860. Victoria & Albert Museum, HMSO, London, 1990. p.xix.

'Chauncy Hare Townshend (1798-1868) was born into a wealthy family, only son of Henry Hare Townsend of Busbridge Hall, Godalming, Surrey. Educated at Eton and Trinity Hall, Cambridge (BA 1821). Succeeded to the family estates 1827, when he added 'h' to the Townsend name. He had taken holy orders, but while he always referred to himself as 'Rev.' on the title pages of his books, he never practised his vocation... . Very much a dilettante in the eighteenth-century sense, he moved in the highest social and literary circles; a great friend of Charles Dickens (he was the dedicatee of Great Expectations) with whom he shared a fascination of mesmerism... Bulwer Lytton described his life's 'Beau-deal of happiness' as 'elegant rest, travel, lots of money - and he is always ill and melancholy'. Of the many watercolours and British and continental oil paintings he bequeathed to the V&A, the majority are landscapes. He is the first identifiable British collector of early photographs apart from the Prince Consort, particularly landscape photography, and also collected gems and geological specimens.'

Historical significance: This painting is a typical example of Jacobs' seascapes, a subject matter he particularly favoured. It depicts a kaag or ferry boat entering a harbour on an agitated sea.
It is probably an early work, reminiscent of 17th century Dutch marine painters, such as Ludolf Bakhuisen (1630-1708). Jacobs imitated Bakhuizen's dramatic atmosphere with the use of a dark palette and ominous clouded sky, to express the danger of the ship's entrance into harbour, and the mutable nature of the sea.

Some of Jacobs' marine paintings with a Netherlandish setting are in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, but their pictorial approach in rather different to the present painting, revealing a more personal manner, suggesting that they may belong to a later period in Jacobs' career.

Jacob Jacobs (1812-1879) studied under Ferdinand de Braekeleer at the Antwerp Academy in 1832. He later travelled to Italy, Greece, Russia, Scandinavia, France and Germany, and was in England in 1845, where he exhibited at the Royal Academy. He returned to Antwerp by 1847, where he taught at the Academy. He received awards in Brussels in 1836, 1842 and 1845, and was appointed 'chevalier de l'ordre de Leopold' for his painting Shipwreck of the 'Floridan' in 1849. His many pupils included Florent Crabeels (1835-1896), Adriaan Joseph Heymans (1839-1921), Isidore Meyers (1836-1917) and Jacques Rosseels (1828-1912).

The artistic relationship between the Northern and Southern Netherlands, now modern-day Holland and Belgium was strengthened by the proclamation of the Kingdom of Netherlands in 1815. The Prix de Rome was awarded equally to artists from Antwerp and Amsterdam, even after the independence of Belgium in 1830, and the great tradition of the Golden Age remained vivid. Much Belgian art of the first half of the 19th century articulates a new national pride, while nevertheless drawing on French academic taste. In search of a greater realism, painters sought new surroundings, especially in Paris and Italy, but also as far afield as Morocco.

Jacob Jacobs (1812-1879) studied under the painter Ferdinand de Braekeleer in the Antwerp Academy in 1832. He later travelled to Italy, Greece, Russia, Scandinavia, France and Germany and by 1847 he was back in Antwerp where he taught at the Academy in 1843 or 1849. He was awarded in Brussels in 1836, 1842 and 1845, and was appointed 'chevalier de l'ordre de Leopold' for his painting Shipwreck of the 'Floridan' in 1849. He had many pupils among whom Florent Crabeels (1835-1896), Adriaan Joseph Heymans (1839-1921), Isidore Meyers (1836-1917) and Jacques Rosseels (1828-1912).

This painting is a good example of Jacobs' marine paintings, a category in which he soon specialised. The present work, showing a fishing ship on agitated waters in the attempt to enter a harbour, shows reminiscent features of the art of the Golden Age during which marine paintings developed particularly. The dark palette conveys a sense of dramatic atmosphere enhanced by the foam's swirl of the waves.

1632-1869