Low Tide Fishing Boats and Jetties Coastal Marsh Scene July 1996 Watercolour

Title: Low Tide Fishing Boats and Jetties Coastal Marsh Scene July 1996 Watercolour
By Tony Herbert (1927-2024)
Inscribed verso: “July 96”
Medium: Watercolor on artists paper
Size: 11 x 15 inches
Condition: very good; a clean and well-preserved work with no visible marks or damage
Provenance: From a large private collection of this artists work, Oxford, England

Description: A beautifully balanced and characterful scene, this original watercolour by British artist Tony Herbert depicts a quiet fishing inlet at low tide, painted in July 1996. With moored boats sitting on mudflats and rickety timber jetties casting long shadows across the marshy bank, the image conjures the tranquil atmosphere of Britain’s working estuaries — likely along the Suffolk or Norfolk coast, where Herbert often painted.

The palette is restrained and earthy, featuring slate grey, ochre, umber, and sap green. Small boats — one blue, one rust-red — lean gently at rest, surrounded by pale reflections and silted estuary textures. On the far bank, the characteristic black wooden sheds of East Anglia’s fishing infrastructure dot the horizon, their dark silhouettes softened by the watercolour’s fluid washes and a soft, shifting sky.

Tony Herbert (1927–2024) is known for his spontaneous plein-air watercolours, often painted on-site during his travels. A trained illustrator and lifelong painter, he recorded overlooked and atmospheric rural and coastal scenes with a clarity of mood and restraint of gesture that recalls artists like Rowland Hilder and Edward Seago.

This work would appeal to collectors of maritime and estuary painting, British regional landscapes, or those with personal ties to Suffolk coastal towns like Walberswick, Southwold, or Orford. A contemplative piece that rewards repeated viewing, it is equally suited to rustic, nautical or heritage-inspired interiors and would make an ideal gift or entry-level acquisition in the Modern British watercolour tradition.