Oil paint on canvas
Tate Britain
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on display
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Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/samuel-scott-480" aria-label="More by Samuel Scott" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Samuel Scott</a>
A Morning with a Cuckolds Point
Presented by H.F. Tomalin 1944
adults
agriculture and fishing
agriculture, gardening & fishing
architecture
bank
boat, rowing
boat, sailing
Cuckold’s Point
England
fisherman / fisherwoman
fishing net
group
groups
house
man
morning
objects
people
places
residential
river
River Thames
Rotherhithe
ship, sailing
signage
society
times of the day
townscapes / man-made features
transport: water
UK countries and regions
UK London
UK natural features
water: inland
woman
work and occupations
<p>Cuckold's Point marks a sharp bend on the Thames near the church of St Mary, Rotherhithe. The unusual name came from the post surmounted by a pair of horns, shown by the steps on the right. Horns indicated a cuckold: a man whose wife had cheated on him.</p><p>This view and its pair, A Sunset, with a View of Nine Elms, were designed to complement each other by showing river vistas looking west and east. They also show contrasting times of day: Cuckold's Point is seen in a silvery morning light and Nine Elms in an evening glow.</p><p><em>Gallery label, July 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
7 July 2001 – 8 September 2001
2001-09-08
7 July 2001 – 8 September 2001
2001-09-08
2001-07-07
St Barbe Museum (Lymington, UK)
http://www.stbarbe-museum.org.uk/
2001-07-07
The Golden Age of Sail: Charles Brooking and the British Marine Painters of the 18th Century
Loan-out
12 July 2004 – 20 June 2005
2005-06-20
12 July 2004
2004-07-12
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2004-07-12
Portraits and Perspectives
Collection based display
20 May 2011 – 30 October 2011
2011-10-30
20 May 2011 – 30 October 2011
2011-10-30
2011-05-20
Museum of London Docklands (London, UK)
2011-05-20
Pirates of London
Loan-out
A Morning, with a View of Cuckold’s Point
support: 520 × 962 × 22 mm
frame: 686 × 1125 × 65 mm
Presented by H.F. Tomalin 1944
<p>This is probably identifiable as a <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> sold by Samuel Scott at auction in April 1765 as 'A Morning, with a View of <i>Cuckold's Point</i>', together with 'Its Companion, a Sun Set, with a View of Nine Elms' (<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/scott-a-sunset-with-a-view-of-nine-elms-t01235" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>T01235</span></a>) (quoted in Einberg and Egerton 1988, p.193).

</p><p>As the original title indicates, the picture includes a view of Cuckold's Point, situated at a sharp bend in the river on the south bank of the Thames, close by the church of St Mary's, Rotherhithe. The wholesale reconfiguration of the Thames riverfront and the lack of comparative visual material of the period, mean that the identification of the present view as the picture sold by Scott in 1765 is not entirely secure. However, the cool grey light in the picture does indicate that this is a morning scene. In addition Scott has included, towards the right, just by the stairs leading to the river, a large post surmounted by a pair of horns. The post marked the site of Horn Fair, established in the Middle Ages, according to local folklore, by King John (1167?-1216) to compensate a local miller whose wife he had seduced. Horns were, of course, the traditional symbol of a cuckold.

</p><p>Samuel Scott's pictures were seldom literal transcriptions of local topography. He habitually moved objects and omitted them for pictorial effect. At the same time he was a passionate observer of nature and made numerous outdoor sketches which were later incorporated into finished pictures. A <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/g/graphite" title="Glossary definition for 'Graphite'"><span>pencil</span></a> and grey wash <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/d/drawing" title="Glossary definition for 'Drawing'"><span>drawing</span></a>, which appears to be a study for the right hand side of the present picture, belongs to the Huntington Library and Art Gallery (Tate 1988, p.195, fig.51). A second study entitled 'Four Men Careening the Hull of a Boat with another Bringing Faggots for their Fire' (Einberg and Egerton 1988, p.195, fig.52) relates closely to the group of figures on the shore to the left of centre, who are caulking the boat with pitch heated over a fire. 

</p><p>It is not known exactly when Scott painted this picture, although he began to paint similar views upon acquiring a riverside home at Twickenham in 1749. Another version of this particular <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/composition" title="Glossary definition for 'Composition'"><span>composition</span></a> (private collection) was apparently purchased from Scott in 1761, suggesting that the Tate picture may have been made at around the same time.

</p><p>The whereabouts of the present picture was unknown for over 160 years when it was sold by auction in 1927 as 'The Thames at Deptford', together with its <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/pendant" title="Glossary definition for 'Pendant'"><span>pendant</span></a>, then called 'The Thames at Battersea'. At that point the works were sold separately. The present work was presented to the National Gallery in 1944, and transferred to the Tate Gallery in 1953. The Tate Gallery purchased its pendant in 1970, reuniting the pair.

</p><p><b>Further reading:<br/></b>Richard Kingzett, 'A Catalogue of the Works of Samuel Scott'<i>, Walpole Society 1980-1982</i>, vol. 48, 1982, pp.76-77, plate 27a<br/>Elizabeth Einberg and Judy Egerton<i>, The Age of Hogarth. British Painters born 1675-1709</i>, Tate Gallery 1988, pp.193-6, reproduced in colour

</p><p>Martin Postle<br/>June 2001</p>
Summary
2005-09-15T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT
<div class="text">
<p>Cuckold’s Point marks a sharp bend on the Thames near the church of St Mary, Rotherhithe. The unusual name came from the post surmounted by a pair of horns, shown by the steps on the right. Horns indicated a cuckold: a man whose wife had cheated on him. This view and its pair, depicting Nine Elms, were designed to complement each other by showing river vistas looking west and east. They also show contrasting times of day: Cuckold’s Point is seen in a silvery morning light and Nine Elms in an evening glow.</p>
</div>

Online caption
2023-11-29T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
<p><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/scott-a-morning-with-a-view-of-cuckolds-point-n05450" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N05450</span></a> <b>A Morning, with a View of Cuckold's Point</b>
<i>c.</i>1750–60
<br/></p>
<p>Oil on canvas 520×962 (20 1/2×37 3/4)
<br/>Presented by H.F. Tomalin to the National Gallery 1944; transferred to the Tate Gallery 1953
<br/>PROVENANCE Probably the artist's sale, Langford's 4 April 1765(55);...; William Hartman, sold Curtis &amp; Henson 14 July 1927(410) bt Pawsey &amp; Payne; Knoedler 1927; Cotswold Gallery 1930, from whom bt by H.F. Tomalin
<br/>EXHIBITED <i>London River</i>, Valence House, Dagenham 1960; Guildhall 1972(42)
<br/>LITERATURE Hilda F. Finberg, ‘Samuel Scott’, <i>Burlington Magazine</i>, LXXXI, 1942, p.201, pl. lb; Robert R. Wark, <i>Early British Drawings in the Huntington Collection</i>, San Marino, California, 1969, pp.42–3, repr. p.42, fig.II; Luke Herrmann, <i>British Landscape Painting of the Eighteenth Century</i>, 1973, p.33, pl.25 B; Kingzett 1982, pp.76–7 (A, p.76), pl.27a
<br/>
<br/>See <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/scott-a-sunset-with-a-view-of-nine-elms-t01235" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>T01235</span></a>
<br/></p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Elizabeth Einberg and Judy Egerton, <i>The Age of Hogarth: British Painters Born 1675-1709</i>, Tate Gallery Collections, II, London 1988</p>
<p></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-07-21T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
adults agriculture and fishing agriculture, gardening & fishing architecture bank boat, rowing boat, sailing Cuckold’s Point England fisherman / fisherwoman fishing net group groups house man morning objects people places residential river River Thames Rotherhithe ship, sailing signage society times of the day townscapes / man-made features transport: water UK countries and regions UK London UK natural features water: inland woman work and occupations