When you next go to a public meeting in the Guildhall, have a look at the large Oil Painting entitled "Arrest of a Smuggler" The picture depicts a real event and the artist even included certain Looe people in the painting.
Whilst it is pretty hard to photograph the painting, here are two attempts, one with flash and the other without. It is a very dark painting but well worth a close examination.
The following is the story behind the painting by LOCS Archivist Barbara Birchwood-Harper.
The Arrest of the Smuggler, West Looe 1820. Photos are from Barbara Birchwood-Harper
This oil painting dominates the Council Chamber of East Looe Guildhall, it was originally displayed in the Old Guildhall Museum.
The work is a great source of comment and conjecture amongst the people of Looe, many claim that the central character is one Thomas Fletcher, a coastguard turned smuggler, however, he was only 7 years old in 1820. Others name the smuggler as Amram Hooper, a well known and much respected inhabitant of Looe Island, he was born there in 1795, and it is difficult to visualise a man of 25 as having the grey hair and obvious age of the central figure.
Looe Island was the organisational centre for Looe smuggling from the 1790s, under a family named Finn, and later under the Hoopers, Amram & his sister, Jochabed, until the mid 1840s. There are tales of Amram’s daughter, Matilda helping her father, however, she was not born until 1825, indeed, Amram did not marry until 1823.
As the artist, John Robertson Reid, was born in 1851, it seems likely that he composed the painting much later in the 19th century, relying on a number of legends, e.g. that Amram Hooper was once arrested, that his daughter was his helper and that smuggling involved the whole community. With all these factors and with no regard for primary sources of evidence, Reid presents this miscellany of events, the smuggler as he probably appeared at the time of painting, the anxious, devoted young daughter and the hated, grim officials from the revenue service. The crowd seem to be railing against the uniformed men, indeed, in those days, the whole community seems to have been involved in the “free trade”
Of particular interest are the individuals in the crowd, some are obviously local faces painted from life. One local lady claims that a seated figure at the bottom right hand of the piece, is her ancestor. There is even a face of a negress, with large earrings, behind the main activity.
Overall, the impression is of a community incensed by the dramatic event, set in the hustle & bustle of a busy market scene. The standard of detail of the fish and vegetables is excellent, and whilst the historical factors are in question under the date of 1820, the picture is a wonderful, colourful, vibrant social statement.