Edward William CookeEnglish, 1811–1880Lobster Pots, Ventnor
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Lobster Pots, Ventnor” now? Victoria and Albert Museum, British Galleries, Room 122, London. Yes, on view now. Checked September 25, 2026.
Closed· opens tomorrow at 10:00 AM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
Object Type
Still life paintings in the Dutch manner were very popular in Victorian Britain, and had been collected since the 17th century. Some British painters imitated this kind of oil painting in order to meet the steady demand.
Subjects Depicted
In September 1835 Cooke went on a sketching tour of Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, where he stayed at the Crab and Lobster Inn, Ventnor. There a local fisherman not only taught him how to make baskets and lobster pots, but also made scale models of them, presumably for the artist to paint from in his studio. Then as now, fresh lobsters were considered a luxury food, and the image of a lobster still in its iron cooking pot would have given this work some of the appeal of a Dutch still life painting of food, but set unusually in the open air.
People
Read on
Edward William Cooke (1811-1880) started painting when he was very young, and aged only nine made drawings for the Encyclopaedia of Plants (1820). He had a long and profitable career as a marine painter, exhibiting 130 works at the Royal Academy. John Sheepshanks collected 11 of his paintings, as well as a number of watercolour studies for them.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Details
- Accession number
- FA.39[O]
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
