Shipping on the Thames off Rotherhithe
Samuel Scott·1740
Historical Context
Shipping on the Thames off Rotherhithe, painted in 1740, depicts the busy stretch of river below the Pool of London where the great Victorian docks would later be built. In Scott's time, ships moored in the stream and were loaded and unloaded by lighters, creating the animated waterborne traffic that is the constant subject of his Thames paintings. Rotherhithe's wharves, timber yards, and shipbuilding facilities lined the south bank, and the north bank opposite was occupied by Wapping and the sailors' quarter.
Technical Analysis
The river scene is composed around the varied shipping types that characterized the working Thames, each vessel rendered with Scott's habitual precision. The Rotherhithe shoreline provides an architectural backdrop of wharves and warehouses.
