British Sailor's Woolwork of a Three-Masted Schooner Under Full Sail

Details

Description

A charming British sailor's woolwork picturing a three-masted schooner in broadside profile, her fore-and-aft sails set full — jib and … Read more A charming British sailor's woolwork picturing a three-masted schooner in broadside profile, her fore-and-aft sails set full — jib and staysail forward, gaff sails on each mast — and a maroon pennant lettered with a white "C" flying at the mainmast head. The black hull and its white-trimmed deckhouses ride a boldly stitched sea of deep green, all set against a soft oatmeal sky worked in long horizontal rows. Simple, graphic, and quietly striking, it's the kind of piece that anchors a wall of maritime and folk art or brings a note of seafaring character to a study, hallway, or paneled room. Presented in a period maple frame with a gilt slip.

Dimensions
Framed Height: 18 inches (45.7 cm)
Framed Width: 21 inches (53.3 cm)

Provenance
New York Collection
Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge

Historical Context
The large fore-and-aft schooner was a workhorse of the British and American coastal trades around 1900, needing far fewer hands than a square-rigged vessel and staying commercially useful well into the age of steam. Woolworks like this one belong to the last chapter of the sailor's embroidery tradition, stitched by seamen in their leisure hours both aboard ship and ashore in later life. Their spare, graphic compositions — great white sails against a plain sky over a green sea — have long appealed to collectors of maritime folk art. The single-initial pennant personalizes the portrait: on schooner pictures of this date, an initialed pennant at the mainmast head conventionally gives the first letter of the vessel's own name.

(Ref: NY11202-mrrx) See less