Photograph and text by Joseph Atkins. NB Magazine Winter 2018.
A sale of two water cans on online auction site eBay on 27th November 2018 must surely have caused some gasps of astonishment at the winning bid of £2,550 - perhaps the highest paid for a water can at £1,275 each. The two cans most likely painted by Frank Nurser have interesting provenance as they were said to have been on the boat Sunny Valley in the famous 1945 Ealing Studios film Painted Boats. Apparently the director Charles Crichton and cinematographer Douglas Slocombe were each given a can after filming and later Charles Crichton gave his to Douglas to keep together as a pair. The cans were put up for sale as a single lot on behalf of Douglas Slocombe’s daughter.