Packet LIVERPOOL, preparing to anchor in the Mersey off Wailasey,ca. 1828
Unidentified artist
Oil on canvas 28 in. by 40 in.
|
The packet ship LIVERPOOL of Boston is shown anchored in the Mersey
estuary off Wallasey. Built at Medford, Massachusetts, in 1828
for the second Boston-to-Liverpool line, she was a regular visitor
to Liverpool, and both the
Watson
and
Elford
code flags are displayed.
Under the bowsprit, an early steam ferry retums from Wallasey
to Liverpool, making good headway despite the ebbing tide indicated
by the LIVERPOOL's taut anchor chain. A further detail of interest
is the figurehead,possibly intended as the national emblem of
America.
This painting is one of a group of four, all thought to be by the same hand. The others are the Hercules, the New England (also of the second Boston-to-Liverpool line), and the New York. Unsigned and variously attributed in the past to Miles Walters or Robert Salmon, this group shares common and distinctive features that set them apart. In the case of the LIVERPOOL, the canvas bears a possible clue, having the inscription "Charles Remond" on the reverse, although no record of an artist of this name has yet been uncovered. These four paintings all depict American ships and at least three have Liverpool backgrounds. The painter may prove to be a seafaring émigré, possibly related to the Parisian artist Jean Charles Joseph Remond (1795-1875). |
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Last updated November 25, 1996