Montague Dawson R.S.M.A., F.R.S.A.

Joseph Simard, OBE, Canada
Sale: The Simard Collection of Montague Dawson Paintings, Sotheby's, London, April, 1, 1998, lot 202, illustrated
Richard Green, London
Acquired from the above
Private Collection

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting is in excellent condition. The canvas is unlined and the paint layer is very healthy and stable. It is clean and lightly varnished, with no retouches. The painting should be hung as is.
"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."

Dawson's Chinese Port-Morning Departures includes clipper ships, trading junks, steamers and attendant small craft in the waters of Foochow.  A port on the River Min in China, Foochow was established as a treaty port in the early 1840s, and soon after became a thriving center of trade. By the 1850s, it was one of the largest ports in China and the world's largest tea-exporter, attracting ships from across the globe. The present work's tranquil calm of still waters, cloud-free sky, and early morning light illuminating the top-most sails of the tall ships' masts contrasts with the busy activity of those onboard the vessels and in the Pagoda Anchorage, obscured by mist on the horizon.  While it has been suggested that the central vessel may be the tea clipper Spindrift, its green hull leads Juliet Johnson to identify it as the Thermopylae.  Built in 1868 for George Thompson & Co., by Walter Hood & Co. of Aberdeen, Thermopylae was made for speed.  Her maiden voyage from Gravesend, Kent to Melbourne took just sixty days, and she often bested the rival and equally famous Cutty Sark in the race to bring the new season's tea to England.  Dawson painted Thermopylae a number of times, including a larger version of the present work, in Pagoda Anchorage and Thermopylae Leaving Foochow.  Bought by the Portuguese government in 1896 after years of service on the tea trade followed by the Australian wool run, Thermopylae was sunk in 1907; Dawson's compositions, then, are lasting tributes to the vessel widely considered the fastest commercial clipper ever launched.