Seascape: Off the Straits of Dover

Location

Country: Uruguay
City: Montevideo
Place: British Embassy

George Chambers senior was born at Whitby, the son of a sailor. To support his family, he shipped aboard an uncle's Humber keel, aged ten. At twelve, he took an apprenticeship on a brig under Captain Storr, who recognised his talent for painting and released him. He became a house and ship painter in Whitby but also made ship portraits for captains and took lessons from a local drawing master. In c.1820 he settled in London, painting ships and scenery for the Pavilion Theatre. In 1830 he was commissioned by William IV to paint four pictures. He was elected a member of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours in 1836. Chambers travelled to Holland twice and, in 1840, to Madeira to recuperate from illness, dying shortly after his return.

Places

England, Dover, Kent, White Cliffs, English Channel

Subjects

fishing boat, topography, seascape/coastal scene, strait, man, ensign (ship), ship

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

George, Snr Chambers (1803 - 1840)

Title

Seascape: Off the Straits of Dover

Date

1835

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 59.00 cm, width: 83.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from the Wilton Gallery, February 1956

Inscription

br: G Chambers 1835 / snr [?]

Provenance

With Wilton Gallery; from whom purchased by the Ministry of Works in February 1956

GAC number

3424