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'Sweethearts and Wives', 1860
by John Lee Active
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John Lee (active 1859 -1867) was one of a group of Merseyside artists who admired
and emulated the brightly-coloured, minutely detailed style of the London based
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
From the very small group of pictures that can with certainty be ascribed to John
Lee, this one is usually considered to be his masterpiece. For this reason it was
bought in 1980 to add to the Walker's collection. Very little is known about Lee.
He exhibited at the Liverpool Academy between 1859 and 1867 and at the Royal Academy
in London between 1863 and 1867. He lived in Rock Ferry near Birkenhead and had
a studio in Liverpool. In 1866 he moved to London.
The view in this picture shows Birkenhead and Tranmere from the Liverpool dock shore.
St Mary's Church in Birkenhead can be clearly seen, as can a windmill which still
exists on Bidston Hill and another above Tranmere. Although the architecture is
a rather generalised mixture of chimneys and houses, Lee still manages to convey
some sense of the substantial distinctive new stone terraces of Hamilton Square
in Birkenhead.
Dockside parting scenes were popular pictorial subjects during the 1850s. The most
famous of these was a picture by Henry Nelson O'Neill, exhibited at the Royal Academy
in 1857, entitled 'Eastwood Ho August 1857'. It showed soldiers leaving for India
following the Indian Mutiny. An engraving after O'Neill's picture was published
in 1860, which may have partly prompted Lee's choice of subject.
The figures of women and men on the dockside are probably all portraits. If not,
they are certainly based upon studies made from real people. The artist himself
appears in the picture on three occasions: as the sailor facing the viewer from
the right-hand corner, as the young sailor talking to the woman holding a green
umbrella, and as the bearded sailor in profile embracing the woman in the Paisley
shawl.
In the rowing boat an older bearded man appears twice. Although we do not know his
name he was used by the artist as a model in another picture. Of particular interest
is the black sailor who is just visible in the rowing boat. He also appears in naval
uniform. There were many black sailors in Liverpool - this man appears to be of
south-east Asian origin.
Anchored in the centre of the River Mersey is HMS Majestic, an obsolete 80 gun,
wooden warship which had been used during the Crimean War. Between 1860 and 1866
she was part of the river defences of Liverpool. She was scrapped in 1868. Her most
memorable achievement on the Mersey was preventing two American Confederate warships
(which were built at Laird's shipyard in Birkenhead) from leaving the river.
The men who are shown leaving to board her may only be going on a tour of duty lasting
a week or two. The provisions that they appear to be taking with them include a
barrel of the beer, which according to the inscription on its top is from Alsopp's
brewery.
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© National Museums Liverpool.
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