Oil paint on canvas
Cornwall
Tate Collection
Works with images
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Turner Bequest
Oil paintings
Collection
Turner owned by Tate
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/joseph-mallord-william-turner-558" aria-label="More by Joseph Mallord William Turner" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Joseph Mallord William Turner</a>
St Mawes at Pilchard Season
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
adults
agriculture and fishing
architecture
basket
boat, fishing
boat, sailing
castle
Cornwall
crowd
England
England, South West
England, Southern
Falmouth Bay
Falmouth, Pendennis Castle
figure
fisherman / fisherwoman
groups
military
objects
people
places
sea
seafront
seascapes and coasts
society
St Mawes, St Mawes Castle
townscapes / man-made features
transport: water
UK cities, towns and villages
UK counties
UK countries and regions
UK natural features
vessels and containers
work and occupations
<p>This scene captures the unloading of the pilchard boats at St Mawes harbour in Cornwall. Pilchard fishing was an important industry for the town. Turner shows the impact of the Napoleonic War on the home front. Napoleon's Continental Blockade meant countries allied with France could not trade with the British. It prevented excess fish caught in British waters being exported to mainland Europe. Fish like these Cornish pilchards were sold on the beach, often as cheap manure.</p><p><em>Gallery label, July 2020</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
23 July 2001 – 16 June 2002
2002-06-16
23 July 2001 – 16 June 2002
2002-06-16
2001-07-23
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2001-07-23
Painting Seascapes
Collection based display
26 August 2002 – 18 July 2005
2005-07-18
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2002-08-26
Marine Painting
Collection based display
20 May 2006 – 5 August 2006
2006-08-05
The Box (Plymouth, UK)
2006-05-20
Light into colour: Turner in the Southwest
Loan-out
15 November 2008 – 30 August 2009
2009-08-30
15 November 2008 – 15 February 2009
2009-02-15
2008-11-15
Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery (Nottingham, UK)
http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk
28 February 2009 – 3 May 2009
2009-05-03
2009-02-28
Ferens Art Gallery (Hull, UK)
http://www.hullcc.gov.uk/museumcollections
17 May 2009 – 30 August 2009
2009-08-30
2009-05-17
Hastings Museum and Art Gallery (Hastings, UK)
2008-11-15
Coasting; Bonington, Turner and their Contemporaries on the Shores of the Channel
Loan-out
19 August 2009 – 19 July 2010
2010-07-19
19 August 2009 – 19 July 2010
2010-07-19
2009-08-19
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2009-08-19
War and Peace
Collection based display
4 August 2010 – 9 April 2012
2012-04-09
4 August 2010 – 9 April 2012
2012-04-09
2010-08-04
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2010-08-04
Early Turner
Collection based display
14 April 2012 – 8 March 2020
2020-03-08
14 April 2012 – 8 March 2020
2020-03-08
2012-04-14
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2012-04-14
Turner as a British Artist
Collection based display
1 September 2020 – 20 November 2022
2022-11-20
1 September 2020
2020-09-01
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2020-09-01
Clore 103
Collection based display
28 October 2023 – 10 March 2024
2024-03-10
28 October 2023 – 10 March 2024
2024-03-10
2023-10-28
Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus (Munich, Germany)
2023-10-28
Turner at Lenbachhaus Munich
Loan-out
St Mawes at the Pilchard Season
support: 911 × 1206 mm
frame: 1341 × 1640 × 195 mm
Accepted by the nation as part of the <a href="/search?gid=999999781" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Turner Bequest</a> 1856
<div class="text">
<p>This scene captures the unloading of the pilchard boats at St Mawes harbour in Cornwall. Pilchard fishing was an important industry for the town. Turner shows the impact of the Napoleonic War on the home front. Napoleon's Continental Blockade meant countries allied with France could not trade with the British. It prevented excess fish caught in British waters being exported to mainland Europe. Fish like these Cornish pilchards were sold on the beach, often as cheap manure. </p>
</div>

Display caption
2020-07-01T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>123. </b>[<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-st-mawes-at-the-pilchard-season-n00484" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00484</span></a>] <b>St Mawes at the Pilchard Season</b> Exh. 1812
<br/>
<br/>THE TATE GALLERY, LONDON (484)
<br/>Canvas, 35 7/8 × 47 1/2 (91 × 120·5)</p>
<p><b>Coll.</b> Turner Bequest 1856 (85 ‘Saint Mawes’ 4'0" × 3'0"); transferred to Tate Gallery 1910.</p>
<p><b>Exh.</b> Turner's gallery 1812; Tate Gallery 1931 (51).</p>
<p><b>Lit.</b> Thornbury 1862, i, p. 293; 1877, p. 430; Armstrong 1902, p. 288; MacColl 1920, p. 8; Whitley 1928, p. 203; Davies 1946, p. 187; Clare 1951, pp. 48–50; Finberg 1961, pp. 190–91, 474 no. 175.</p>
<p></p>
<p>St Mawes on Falmouth Harbour, with Pendennis Castle in the distance. According to Thornbury the picture was painted in 1809, but it may alternatively be a result of Turner's visit to the West Country in the summer of 1811 in connection with W.B. Cooke's <i><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/picturesque" title="Glossary definition for 'Picturesque'"><span>Picturesque</span></a> Views of the Southern Coast of England</i>, published between 1814 and 1826. St Mawes and Pendennis appear in a list of subjects for this publication in the ‘Devonshire Coast No. 1’ sketchbook (CXXIII-5) and there are <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>drawings</span></a> in the same book of Falmouth, Pendennis and perhaps St Mawes (CXXIII-104, 108 <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/r/recto-verso" title="Glossary definition for 'Recto / Verso'"><span>verso</span></a>, ?111, 217 verso; 198; and 133 respectively); there are further drawings in the ‘Ivy Bridge to Penzance’ sketchbook (CXXV-24 verso, 27, 27 verso, 29–30, ?45 verso). There were two <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/e/engraving" title="Glossary definition for 'Engraving'"><span>engravings</span></a> in the <i>Southern Coast</i>, ‘St. Mawes, Cornwall’ by J. C. Allen 1824, and ‘Falmouth Harbour, Cornwall’ by W.B. Cooke 1816 (see W. 473, 455, both repr.). A later engraving, closer to this <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> however, is that done by J. H. Kernot in 1830 of ‘St. Mawes, Cornwall’ for <i>Picturesque Views in England and Wales</i>, 1827–38 (repr. Eric Shanes, <i>Turner's Picturesque Views</i>, 1979, pl. 99).</p>
<p>
<br/><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, <i>The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner</i>, revised ed., New Haven and London 1984
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-09-22T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
adults agriculture and fishing architecture basket boat, fishing boat, sailing castle Cornwall crowd England England, Southern England, South West Falmouth Bay Falmouth, Pendennis Castle figure fisherman / fisherwoman groups military objects people places sea seafront seascapes and coasts society St Mawes, St Mawes Castle townscapes / man-made features transport: water UK cities, towns and villages UK counties UK countries and regions UK natural features vessels and containers work and occupations