Dimensions: support: 356 x 446 mm frame: 465 x 552 x 70 mm
Copyright: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: This is "Trolling for Pike in the River Lee" by James Pollard. It gives me a sense of the leisure activities available to a certain class of people. What do you make of its social context? Curator: It depicts a very specific type of leisure, indicative of class. Consider how such scenes might have functioned: were they aspirational, or celebratory of existing societal structures? Editor: So, it's less about the fishing itself and more about the social standing it represents? Curator: Exactly! The river itself becomes a stage for social display. Who has access to this stage, and what stories does it tell? Editor: It’s a powerful point - the painting is a document of social hierarchy, not just a day at the river. Curator: Precisely. Considering art's role in reflecting and reinforcing such power dynamics is vital.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/pollard-trolling-for-pike-in-the-river-lee-t03437
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The three anglers on the river bank below a weir are 'trolling' or fishing with a running line. The centre figure has already hooked a jack, or young pike, while his companion on the right is poised with a gaff to help land the fish.Pollard had a prolific output of sporting subjects. He was himself a keen angler and painted several small pictures on the theme. The locations for many of his fishing subjects were on the outskirts of London. This charming scene on the River Lee at Waltham Abbey, to the north-east of the city, forms a pair with 'Fly Fishing in the River Lee', also in the Tate collection. Gallery label, April 1996
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