Peirce

The John Carver was a bark built at the Carver yard in 1841, well before Waldo Pierce was born. Until 1870 she was Searsport owned then sold to New Bedford as a whaler. This painting does give the artist's impression of what the Searsport shore looked like, and shows the cords of wood in the foreground needed to heat houses in winter.

Oil painting

This whaling scene shows a boat rowing close enough to the whale so that the harpooner could 'dart' the iron. This sperm whale has already destroyed one boat, a risk that whalers took. The whaleship is in the backgound. Shore whaling would use a similar boat. This somewhat dramatic whaling scene was painted by Waldo Peirce, who lived in Searsport.

Oil on canvas