John Brett

Britannia’s Realm

1880

Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported)

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On loan

Fondation de l’Hermitage (Lausanne, Switzerland): British painting during the Victorian era

Artist
John Brett 1831–1902
Medium
Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions
Support: 1054 x 2121 mm
frame: 1463 x 2533 x 142 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Presented by the Trustees of the Chantrey Bequest 1880
Reference
N01617

Display caption

This view was painted near Tenby in Pembrokeshire, but its title implies that the world’s oceans are part of Britain’s colonial possessions, a popular idea at the height of the British Empire. The money Brett earned from the sale of this painting helped him to buy his own hundred-foot yacht.

Gallery label, May 2007

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