The Avon near Bristol

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Artist: Samuel Jackson (British, 1794–1869)
Medium: Watercolor and gouache, with scraping and gum on medium, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Size: Sheet: 11 1/4 x 17 1/4 inches (28.5 x 43.8 cm)
Museum: Yale Center for British Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

Samuel Jackson, native of Bristol, took this view of the celebrated Avon Gorge looking out toward the Bristol Channel from Clifton Down. He includes several ships plying their trade on the Avon as emblems of Bristol’s importance as a major commercial port. But that commercial eminence had been based squarely on the transatlantic slave trade, which was abolished by Act of Parliament in 18o7 prior to the total ending of slavery itself in 1833. Thereafter Bristol’s fortunes began to decline, and this awkward passage up and down the Avon, however scenic, became increasingly unsuitable for larger, modern commercial shipping.

Text: Yale Center for British Art.