Francis Hustwick

with William Rivett, Gainsborough Gallery, London

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This  is one of a series of ten ship portraits by Francis Hustwick in which he employs a practically identical Liverpool background based on a well known engraving, The Port of Liverpool taken from Seacombe, published  in 1840 after an original painting by George Chambers (1803-1840).  To mark the historic first  transatlantic voyage using screw propulsion, GREAT BRITAIN displays a unique flag at the foremast. This was described in the New York Herald of 11 August 1845 as  "the blended flag of England and America, the stars of this country blending with the blue white and red of the Union of England, and at the lower quarterings, the stripes".   An almost identical painting, also by Hustwick, has passed down through the family of Lieutenant  James Hosken R.N. who, following his command of the transatlantic paddle steamer GREAT WESTERN,   was subsequently awarded command of the revolutionary s.s.GREAT BRITAIN . In this painting, a blended flag is also clearly  visible.¹  

Francis Hustwick was a 'decorative and marine' painter from Hull who settled in Liverpool about 1846. Competition from established maritime artists probably explains why he could only afford to live in the  unsalubrious dockside area, where contagious diseases were endemic. Tragically, he contracted typhus and died in Smithdown Road Workhouse on 26 June1867. Despite his working conditions, his paintings are of high quality. For some undetermined reason they almost invariably lack a normal signature; which in the past has generally led to them being mis-attributed to one of his better known Liverpool contemporaries. However, once alerted to Hustwick's 'trade mark'   (a pre 1801 red ensign which lacks the red diagonal of St. Patrick )  confirmation stems from additional stylistic features. Even if the 'rebus' is absent (as in the case of 'foreign' registered vessels) a positive attribution is now generally possible. Since the publication  of fifty illustrated examples by Francis Hustwick in 1999, a further thirty have been identified, including some in American collections.  Increasing awareness of the number and quality of his  paintings  has led to a growing recognition of Hustwick's  distinctive contribution which compares very favourably with  the works of his better known Liverpool contemporaries. 

We are grateful to Sam Davidson for his assistance with the cataloguing of this lot and for suggesting the attribution on the basis of photographs.

1. see A.S.Davidson & A. Tibbles, Marine Art & Liverpool, A Postscript: Fifty Ship Paintings by Francis Hustwick, Bedworth 1999