Ballast Dredger, off the Tower

Image credit: Museum of London

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Notes

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A ballast dredger, used for marine excavations, is shown at work in the Thames. There is a cluster of workers to the right of the painting, with their backs to the viewer. In the middle distance on the right, the Tower of London is visible. It indicates the busy industrial nature of the river in the late 1820s and how material from the river bed was often used for building purposes. Dredging was also necessary to ensure the channels were deep enough for shipping to pass through.

The painting is related to an engraving called 'Ballast Dredger at Work', after a drawing by Clarkson Stanfield (1827), for Cooke's 'Views in London and its Vicinity' (1826–1834) called 'The Tower of London from Southwark'.

Museum of London

More information
Title

Ballast Dredger, off the Tower

Date

c.1827

Medium

oil on panel

Measurements

H 18.2 x W 30.1 cm (E)

Accession number

A17588

Acquisition method

gift from J. G. Joicey, 1916

Work type

Painting

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