Mrs Elizabeth (Johnstone) Hall, Newhaven fishwife
About this artwork
The fishwives of Newhaven were famous for both their beauty and confidence. They carried the fish their men had caught in baskets on their backs up to Edinburgh to sell it. Whenever storms at sea made the fishing especially dangerous and the price of fish rose, they were heard saying "It's no fish ye're buying, it's men's lives". The phrase became internationally known after Sir Walter Scott used it in his novel, 'The Antiquary'.
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title:Mrs Elizabeth (Johnstone) Hall, Newhaven fishwife
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accession number:PGP HA 301
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artists:Robert Adamson (1821 - 1848) David Octavius Hill (1802 - 1870)
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depicted:
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gallery:
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object type:
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subject:
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materials:Calotype print
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date created:1843 - 1846
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measurements:19.40 x 14.80 cm
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credit line:Elliot Collection, bequeathed 1950
Robert Adamson
David Octavius Hill
Robert Adamson
Robert Adamson was one of the first professional photographers, setting up in business in Edinburgh in March 1843. He had aspired to be an engineer but his health was too poor. His brother, John, who was involved in the early experiments with photography in St Andrews, taught him the calotype…
David Octavius Hill
A painter and a lithographer by training, David Octavius Hill is best remembered for the beauty of the calotypes he and Robert Adamson produced together. Hill was a sociable and kind-hearted man who did much to support the arts in Scotland and between 1830 and 1836 he was the unpaid Secretary of the newly established Royal Scottish Academy. After Adamson's death, Hill's attempt to start a new partnership with the photographer Alexander MacGlashan around 1860 failed. Hill is to this day revered as one of the first in the trade who transformed photography into an art form.
