Painting North Shields Harbour The Old Low Light Manner of Bernard Benedict Hemy

The composition portrays traditional fishing barges resting along the tidal shoreline, merchant sailing vessels at anchor and figures engaged in everyday harbour activity. Standing prominently on the distant shoreline is the distinctive white tower of the historic North Shields Old Low Light, one of the most recognisable navigational landmarks of North-East England. By aligning the Low Light with the corresponding High Light, mariners could identify the navigable channel and avoid dangerous sandbanks near the river entrance. Changes to the channel eventually required the navigational lights to be repositioned, but the surviving buildings remain important monuments to the Tyne’s maritime history. The attribution, identification of the location, provenance research and historical observation.