02-19-200602-19-2006
Skinner Auctions
Skinner AuctionsBoston MA
2308Boston
February 19, 2006 11:00 AMCalender
155

Attributed to Antonio Jacobsen (Danish/American 1850-1921)

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$250,000$250,000
Auction: American Furniture & Decorative Arts - 2308Location: BostonDate / Time: February 19, 2006 11:00AM

Description:

Attributed to Antonio Jacobsen (Danish/American 1850-1921)

Fetching the Mark. Unsigned. Oil on canvas, c. 1873, depicting the schooner Dreadnought as she prepares to round the mark, with a square-rigged vessel off her stern, 28 3/4 x 49 7/8 in., unframed. Condition: Puncture, small loss u.l.

Note: The Dreadnought is identified by the blue cross private signal she flies. The schooner yacht was designed by William Townsend and built by the famed C. & R. Poillon of Brooklyn. Her first owner was Capt. Samuel Samuels, and he named the vessel after his famous Red Cross Line packet, Dreadnought. In 1872, the yacht's second owner was A.B. Stockwell, a well-known member of the New York Yacht Club (NYYC). Off the stern of the Dreadnought is a square-rigged vessel which is flying the private signal flag of the schooner Palmer. The Palmer was owned by Rutherford Stuyvesant; he may have hired the square-rigger to observe the race. This scene may be a depiction of the first match race for the Cape May Challenge Cup which was held on October 10, 1872. An account in the History of the NYYC states that the Dreadnought beat the Palmer in this race by 1 hour and 39 minutes, 'Both yachts completing the course in a little over twenty-four hours. They started in a light sou'wester and subsequently experienced some heavy squalls from various westerly directions.' The heavy weather conditions are beautifully represented in this painting, one of several examples of works by this artist featuring this yacht.

Bibliography: Harold Sniffen, Antonio Jacobsen: Painted Ship on Painted Ocean, Mariners' Museum, 1994 Sniffen, Antonio Jacobsen: the Check List, New York, 1984, The American Yacht List 1875; Alan Granby, A Yachtsman's Eye, The Glen S. Foster Collection of Marine Paintings, Independence Seaport Museum, 2004; John Parkinson, The History of the New York Yacht Club: from its founding through 1973, New York Yacht Club, 1975; Rudolph J. Schaefer, J. E. Buttersworth 19th Century Marine Painter, Mystic Seaport, 1975; Richard B. Grassby, Ship, Sea & Sky, the Marine Art of James Edward Buttersworth, South Street Seaport Museum, 1994.

Estimate Available Upon Request.

155- 5/8 in tear with associated paint loss in sky at upper center of canvas; losses to canvas on all four corners, the largest is 2 1/4x 5/8 in in the upper left corner, stabile craquelure.

Literature used in research:

Rudolph J. Schaefer, J. E. Buttersworth 19th Century Marine Painter, Mystic Seaport 1975

Richard B. Grassby, Ship, Sea & Sky the Marine Art of James Edward Buttersworth, South Street Seaport Museum 1994

Alan Granby, A Yachtsman's Eye The Glen S. Foster Collection of Marine Paintings,
Independence Seaport Museum 2004

John Parkinson, The History of the New York Yacht Club: from its founding through 1973, New York Yacht Club 1975

Keywords

Antonio Jacobsen, New York Yacht Club, Samuel Samuels, William Townsend, first owner , Red Cross, second owner , Rutherford Stuyvesant, Harold Sniffen, Painted Ocean, Century Marine Painter, Mariners' Museum, Mystic Seaport, South Street Seaport Museum, Alan Granby, James Edward Buttersworth, John Parkinson, Independence Seaport Museum, Rudolph J. Schaefer, 19th Century Marine Painter, Richard B. Grassby, Seaport Museum, Street Seaport Museum