Watercolour by William Bell Scott depicting a design for the decoration of the inner court of Wallington Hall, Northumberland, entitled 'Iron and Coal : The Industry of The Tyne', Great Britain, ca. 1857-1861

Watercolour depicting a group of men working in an iron foundry, their arms raised in labour, using long-handled hammers to pound an object in the fire. They are surrounded by machinery, and in the lower left corner sits a young girl and her dog.

Many patrons of the Pre-Raphaelites and buyers of their works were not based in London and the south, but in the midlands and the north: the new industrialists and manufacturers. In 1856, Sir Walter Trevelyan, whose ancestors had made the family fortune in the coal and lead mining industry, commissioned Scott to decorate the large hall of their house, Wallington, thirty miles north-west of Newcastle. The eight large panels narrated the history of Northumberland, and Iron and coal is the last in the series, bringing the story up to the present day. This is a watercolour version of the composition, a celebration of the contemporary success of the city of Newcastle, its industry and commerce. The small girl looking away from the scene, prettily dressed and holding her school arithmetic book, like others of her class and generation will benefit from the new prosperity brought by mining, engineering, and invention.

In the 19th century, newly rich industrialists and manufacturers from the North of England were keen to purchase works of art. In 1856 Sir Walter Trevelyan, whose ancestors had founded the family fortune in the lead and mining industry, commissioned William Bell Scott (1811-1890) to decorate the hall of his house, Wallington, in Northumberland. This watercolour is a version of the work that Scott carried out at Wallington. It is a celebration of the contemporary success of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, its industry and commerce.

362-1891