FDA-D.1770-2024
Parts
Object number
FDA-D.1770-2024
Object type
Identification
Title
Fishing Fleet at Anchor
Title Type
assigned by cataloguer
Description
Painted view of a seascape, with several fishining boats
Comments
Though Nora Davison is now better known for her Eton scenes, for the first two decades of her career she was a successful marine artist. Her work was regularly exhibited, including at the Royal Academy, and often drew praise from critics. In 1896, a reviewer for The Queen newspaper commented, ‘Miss Davison invests her shipping studies with a certain sentiment, and paints them with rare knowledge.’
Here, the brown and orange shades of the boats’ sails are set, to great effect, against a cool grey sky.
Here, the brown and orange shades of the boats’ sails are set, to great effect, against a cool grey sky.
Description
Dimensions
height (actual size): 351mm
width (actual size): 516mm
width (actual size): 516mm
Dimension note
Auction lot records the artwork at 34 x 49 cm (to be confirmed if frame or actual size)
Inscription
Signed in watercolour, lower right: 'Nora Davison'
Production
Person
Davison, Nora, 1855 - 1950 (Artist)
Date
c.1882-1900
History and association
Object history note
Provenance: With Andrew Smith & Son, Winchester, auctioneers, on 5 January 2011 (Lot 88), as ‘Boats in a Harbour’, (bought in);; sold through Andrew Smith & Son, Winchester, auctioneers, on 24 March 2015 (Lot 420);; sold through Henry Adams, Chichester, auctioneers, on 18 October 2024 (Lot 889); from which sale purchased by Eton College
Exhibited: ‘A Woman’s View: Nora Davison’s watercolours of Eton’, Verey Gallery, Eton College, 23 May to 28 September 2025 (catalogue number 2)
Exhibited: ‘A Woman’s View: Nora Davison’s watercolours of Eton’, Verey Gallery, Eton College, 23 May to 28 September 2025 (catalogue number 2)
