Fisherman Riding on the Sands

Fisherman Riding on the Sands, undated and held in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, depicts a horseback rider on tidal sands — likely a fisherman checking lines or pots at low tide, a commonplace of coastal working life on the Welsh or English coast. The Fitzwilliam Museum's collection of British painting and watercolour is among the finest in Britain, and Cox is well represented there. The unusual support material — cardboard — suggests this may be a sketch or rapid study rather than a finished canvas, Cox having used various unconventional supports throughout his career, including the coarse Scottish wrapping paper of his late period. Horseback riders on wet sand appealed to Cox for the same reason as his other figures-in-transit subjects: the horse and rider provided a vertical accent in a horizontal world, and the wet sand's reflective surface allowed his atmospheric treatment of sea-level light.

Cardboard as a support is more absorbent than canvas and less stable long-term, suggesting this was a working sketch rather than an exhibition piece. Cox's handling on absorbent supports typically shows quicker drying and less blending, with marks retaining their individual character more sharply than on sized canvas. The tonal simplicity of the wet-sand subject suited rapid sketch execution.