Sea trout thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level H , Case X, Shelf 1, Box A

Sea trout

Photograph
1853 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Sewin is the colloquial Welsh name for the sea trout. This is a migratory brown trout that, like the salmon, spends time feeding at sea before returning to the river of its birth to spawn. Anglers prize sea trout highly for their strength, beauty and elusiveness. Chefs value them for their delicately flavoured flesh, which is tinted pink from their sea-diet of shrimps. This fine specimen is shown displayed on a traditional bass bag made of rush. When soaked with water, the bag keeps the fish cool by evaporation. A fourfold carpenter’s boxwood rule has been included to show scale.

Llewelyn was an important pioneer of photography. He was related by marriage to the inventor of the positive-negative process, William Henry Fox Talbot. This photograph was at once a demonstration of still-life composition, photographic draughtsmanship and skilful fly-fishing.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • Sea trout
  • Sewin (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Salted paper print from glass negative
Brief description
19thC; Dillwyn Llewelyn John, Fish
Physical description
Sea-trout placed on a basket with a ruler beside it, in an album
Dimensions
  • Height: 15.5cm
  • Width: 20.6cm
Production
Penllergaer in South Wales was the photographer's country seat, where he made most of his photographs

Reason For Production: Private
Reason For Production: Exhibition
Subjects depicted
Summary
Sewin is the colloquial Welsh name for the sea trout. This is a migratory brown trout that, like the salmon, spends time feeding at sea before returning to the river of its birth to spawn. Anglers prize sea trout highly for their strength, beauty and elusiveness. Chefs value them for their delicately flavoured flesh, which is tinted pink from their sea-diet of shrimps. This fine specimen is shown displayed on a traditional bass bag made of rush. When soaked with water, the bag keeps the fish cool by evaporation. A fourfold carpenter’s boxwood rule has been included to show scale.

Llewelyn was an important pioneer of photography. He was related by marriage to the inventor of the positive-negative process, William Henry Fox Talbot. This photograph was at once a demonstration of still-life composition, photographic draughtsmanship and skilful fly-fishing.
Collection
Accession number
PH.220-1984

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Record createdFebruary 7, 2004
Record URL
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