The old yellowed photo that I discovered has a subtitle: Timber ship 1894. But I immediately noticed that this photo, in itself not sensational, had a lot to tell me. At the end of the 19th century, when steam shipping was in full swing, ship owners sometimes had their sailing ships converted into steam ships, that is what the watercolor shows. The steel ship, with its pronounced clipper bow, was clearly launched as a sailing ship. Even the figurehead and the, although strongly shortened bowsprit with figurehead as support, are still clearly present. The large (middle) mast was removed to make room for the combustion plant and the, for that time, modern wheelhouse with crew quarters. The front and rear masts were truncated to the lower spread and provided with a steng and since they were provided with loading booms, the standing rigging was retained for robustness. The smoke on the stern clearly shows that the loading booms operate on steam power, which could well be the steam installation that was present on every mast on "modern" sailing ships for hoisting and ironing the sails. As this ship unloads its cargo outside the port, it could indicate that it was a "wild voyage" and not a typical timber ship. The cargo was unloaded in sailing barges that brought the cargo ashore. At the front of a supply boat, due to the absence of a winch, the goods are pulled aboard through a trunk made of tarpaulin.
4 Comments
Sharon De Vore 04 Jan 2020
SUPERB PAINTING, IVO.Joanie Holliday 04 Jan 2020
MARVELOUS WORK MY FRIEND. ALL THAT RIGGING WOULD BOGGLE MY MIND. SO GOOD YOU ARE AN EXPERT.Linda Hammar-Del Favero 03 Jan 2020
You really know your ships and how things were done. Interesting watercolor as usual.James Mann 03 Jan 2020
excellent sleuthing and backstory.