Montague Dawson (1895-1973) "The Clipper Ship Flying Fish...

Estimate

€15,000 - €20,000

 Montague Dawson (1895-1973)

"The Clipper Ship Flying Fish c. 1950," O.O.C.,  
signed l.l. ‘Montague Dawson’, 51cms x 76cms (20" x 30"), in complimentary ornate gilt frame with original receipt.

Provenance Purchased by A. Bell Esq., in 1950, from Vicars Brothers, 12 Old Bond Street, London;  Collection, Nelson Bell, Belfast

One of Montague Dawson’s finest depictions of ships at sea, this painting shows the clipper Flying Fish under full sail, racing through dark blue ocean waves. With its sharp prow slicing through the water, the ship is miles ahead of another clipper, the white sails of which can be seen in the distance. At over one thousand tons, Flying Fish was not among the largest clippers built, but its sails covered eight thousand square yards. After the discovery of gold in California and the opening of the China tea trade to competition in 1849, several clippers, including Flying Fish and Flying Cloud, were built at Donald McKay’s shipyard in Boston. Launched in 1851, Flying Fish made the voyage from Boston to San Francisco, via Cape Horn, in a record-breaking ninety-two days. Owned by Samson and Tappan, the ship had a glorious career. It was one of the fastest every built by McKay, and under the command of Captain Edward Nickels, rounded Cape Horn seven times. It features in several paintings by Dawson, including studies in oil and watercolour. In this breathtaking painting, he captures Flying Fish in its full glory, running before the wind, with nearly all sails set. In 1858, while carrying a cargo of tea, Flying Fish was driven onto a sandbank off the coast of China and damaged. It was afterwards sold to a firm from Manila and, under the name El Bueno Suceso, was used to transport goods between the Philippines and Spain, before it finally foundered in the China Seas.

Best known for his dramatic seascapes depicting clipper ships under sail, Montague Dawson, grandson of the marine painter Henry Dawson (1811-1878), was born in Chiswick, London. He spent much of his childhood at ‘Smugglers House’ on Southampton Water, north of Cowes on the Isle of Wight, where he could study ships as they sailed in the Solent. Although largely self-taught, Dawson joined an art studio group at Bedford Row in London, and, while still in his teens, was producing commercial posters and illustrations. Around 1910 he worked for a short time at a commercial studio but on the outbreak of WWI, he joined the Royal Navy. Towards the end of the war his unit was engaged in painting camouflaged ‘Dazzle Ships’. His illustrations depicting the surrender of the German Grand Fleet in the Firth of Forth were reproduced in The Sphere magazine. After the war, Dawson worked as a professional marine painter, specialising in historical subjects and ocean-going sailing ships. Helped by the artist Charles Napier Hemy, he was taken on by the London gallery Frost and Reed. Commissioned as a war artist during WWII, he again produced illustrations for The Sphere. Dawson exhibited regularly at the Royal Society of Marine Artists, and at the Royal Academy from 1917 to 1936. Popular during his lifetime, his paintings are still highly sought-after by collectors; his patrons included two American Presidents, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Lyndon B. Johnson.

Peter Murray 2024

Provenance: Nelson Bell Collection - The Bell Gallery, Belfast