Painting

Built in 1854, a vessel that would be about 1/3 the size of the later Down Easters. Painting probably done on a maiden voyage by Honore Pellegrin, one of a long line of Marseilles marine artists, who worked chiefly in watercolors. Painting shows the vessel leaving Marseilles, July, 1855, Capt. William Hichborn, master. Signed and dated "Pellegrin, Marseilles, 1855."

Ship built by H. McGilvery, Belfast, Maine in 1871 for James G. Pendleton and others. Traded to Europe and the Far East. Sold for use as a barge in 1893.

Fedeler had trained as a marine artist under his father C.J.H Fedeler. Besides ship portraits, his paintings included many seascapes.

This ship portrait was done by an unknown Chinese artist. China had a tradition of ship portrait painting that dated to English artists teaching the craft to Chinese artists starting in the 1840s. The Clarissa B. Carver was built by George A. Carver in Searsport in 1876 for Captain Jonathan Dow. Under the command of Leroy Dow, she was lost in a collision with a steamer near Kobe, Japan in 1885.

Oil on board.

The Greenland Whale Fishery

Joghem de Vries, attributed, 1769

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Dutch had a major whale fishery. Dutch marine artists painted it. These paintings may have been designed for a house or hall. They are in pairs and could fit around tall narrow windows. The setting presents a complete view of the Greenland whale fishery, one that the artist must have seen.

One of the museum’s founders purchased these from the Hearst Collection in California. After his family left Searsport, they were in the whaling business and collected whaling art.

The Greenland Whale Fishery

Joghem de Vries, attributed, 1769

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Dutch had a major whale fishery. Dutch marine artists painted it. These paintings may have been designed for a house or hall. They are in pairs and could fit around tall narrow windows. The setting presents a complete view of the Greenland whale fishery, one that the artist must have seen.

One of the museum’s founders purchased these from the Hearst Collection in California. After his family left Searsport they were in the whaling business and collected whaling art.

The Greenland Whale Fishery

Joghem de Vries, attributed, 1769

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Dutch had a major whale fishery. Dutch marine artists painted it. These paintings may have been designed for a house or hall. They are in pairs and could fit around tall narrow windows. The setting presents a complete view of the Greenland whale fishery, one that the artist must have seen.

One of the museum’s founders purchased these from the Hearst Collection in California. After his family left Searsport , they were in the whaling business and collected whaling art.

The Greenland Whale Fishery

Joghem de Vries, attributed, 1769

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Dutch had a major whale fishery. Dutch marine artists painted it. These paintings may have been designed for a house or hall. They are in pairs and could fit around tall narrow windows. The setting presents a complete view of the Greenland whale fishery, one that the artist must have seen.

One of the museum’s founders purchased these from the Hearst Collection in California. After his family left Searsport, they were in the whaling business and collected whaling art.

This ship portrait shows the ship B. Aymar, built in Searsport in 1840. She was the first full-rigged ship built in the John Carver yard. There is both a bow and a stern view of the vessel, something common in early ship portraits.

She was commanded by Captain Joshua Slocum in 1873; he sailed her until she was sold in Manila in 1876.

Teupken was an Amsterdam based artist; the Aymar sailed out of New York and must have visited Amsterdam early in her career.

Signature has been cut off, but this painting is attributed to Charles Waldron. The Great Admiral was built in Boston by Robert E. Jackson of East Boston in 1869. She was the most famous ship of the Weld Fleet, having an active life of 37 years. Named for Admiral Farragut and commanded for 12 years by Captain Benjamin Thompson of Winterport, Maine, the Great Admiral foundered in a storm in the Pacific in 1906. Under the Weld ownership, she was commanded by Captain I.N. Jackson, Captain Benjamin Thompson, Captain William Chatfield, and Captain J.F. Rowell.

Captain Philip Broke drilled and trained the crew of the Shannon for seven years. It paid off. He captured the Chesapeake off Boston in a 15 minute fight. Evenly matched, Chesapeake, under Captain James Lawrence for only a few days, had been blockaded in Boston for months and was no match for the British, who got off 362 shots for 158. Buttersworth did not paint Shannon firing, for it would have spoiled the painting. Lawrence was shot in the fight, and died in Halifax, leaving his dying words to the U.S. Navy “Don’t Give Up the Ship.”