拍品 642
  • 642

MONTAGUE DAWSON R.S.M.A., F.R.S.A. | The Clipper Lightning

估價
40,000 - 60,000 USD
招標截止

描述

  • Montague Dawson
  • The Clipper Lightning
  • signed MONTAGUE. DAWSON (lower left); signed, titled and inscribed Built in 1854 -2095 tons (on the stretcher)
  • oil on canvas 
  • 28 by 42 in.
  • 71.1 by 106.7 cm

來源

Frost & Reed Ltd., London, no. 30917 (acquired from the artist on February 1, 1962)
Private Collection (acquired from the above in February 1962)
Mr. John Roberts, Ottawa (and sold: Sotheby Parke Bernet, May 29, 1980, lot 16)
Frost & Reed Ltd., London, no. 54596S* (acquired from the above sale)
Private Collection, California (acquired in November 1980)
Thence by descent 

Condition

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work has an old lining which is nicely stabilizing the surface. There is no abrasion to the paint layer, and all of the rigging remains un-abraded. Under ultraviolet light, it can be seen that some of Dawson's original paint layer reads strongly, particularly in the sky. The only area of actual retouching is immediately to the front of the vessel in the sky, to address some unevenness to a glaze here. There do not appear to any other retouches except for a few spots in the lower right corner and possibly at the very front of the hull of the boat. The work should be hung in its current state.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

拍品資料及來源

The clipper Lightning was built by Donald McKay in Boston for James Barnes of Liverpool’s Black Ball Line, the first ship built in America for a British firm. A powerful and heavily constructed ship, built to sustain rough seas and storms on the long trip to Australia, the 2095 ton wooden clipper was launched on January 3, 1854.

The ship quickly gained fame, not just for its opulent interiors—all 243 feet of her length were outfitted with marble and stained glass (and rumored to rival the later Queen Mary)—or its onboard newspaper called the Lightning Gazette. Captain James Nicholl-Forbes, commonly known as "Bully" Forbes, was one of the most famous characters in the British Mercantile Marine, and he pushed the ship to dizzying records, sailing her from Port Philip Head, Victoria, Australia to Liverpool in 64 days, three hours and 10 minutes.

In the early hours October 31, 1869, the Lightning caught fire at Geelong, south-west of Melbourne, while fully loaded and ready to sail. Attempts to bring the fire under control proved unsuccessful and the decision was made to pull her out to sea and scuttle her.

Alexander Young, a seasoned traveler just arrived in Melbourne from England aboard the Lightning aptly described the voyage: "I have much pleasure in adding my slight testimony to her well-earned fame by stating that she is the driest and easiest ship I have ever sailed in. I assure you, ladies and gentlemen, that we scarcely shipped a bucket full of water all the passage, and when going at sixteen knots, there was scarcely any more motion than we feel at the present moment" (As related in Ron Ranson, The Maritime Paintings of Montague Dawson, London, 1993, p. 45).