Lead Processing at Leadhills: Smelting the Ore
About this artwork
David Allan painted a fascinating set of pictures when the Industrial Revolution was taking hold in Scotland. The setting is the famous lead mines at Leadhills in South Lanarkshire, owned by the 3rd Earl of Hopetoun, who commissioned these paintings. They show the four key stages in lead processing, of which this is the third. In the smelting house the ore was loaded into small blast furnaces with peat or turf or coal and a small portion of lime. The molten lead was then drawn off into a reservoir and ladled into moulds to form ingots.
Audio commentary
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Updated before 2020
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artist:David Allan (1744 - 1796) Scottish
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title:Lead Processing at Leadhills: Smelting the Ore
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date created:Probably 1780s
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:38.30 x 58.00 cm; Framed: 45.00 x 65.00 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Accepted by HM Government in lieu of inheritance tax and allocated to the National Galleries of Scotland, 2008
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accession number:NG 2836
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gallery:
David Allan
David Allan
Allan was born in Alloa, on the River Forth, and attended the Foulis Academy in Glasgow for seven years. In 1767 he moved to Rome, where he lived for ten years; this was the most successful period of his life. In Rome, Allan painted ambitious historical pictures, portraits, caricatures and genre...
