Details
Robert Salmon (1775-1848)
A Busy Coastal Semaphore Station
oil on board
9¾ x 8 in. (24.8 x 20.3 cm.)
Painted circa 1840.
Provenance
Walter Breckinridge Armstrong, Darien, Connecticut.
Estate of the above.
Private collection, acquired from the above, 1950.
By descent to the present owner.
Sale room notice
The present work likely depicts the Holyhead Semaphore Station with Holyhead Mountain and South Stack in the far distance.

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Bridget Young
Bridget Young

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Lot Essay

Given good visibility, coastal semaphore systems, such as the one depicted in the present work, were surprisingly efficient. A well-known example of these early communication systems was the busy Holyhead/Liverpool Semaphore with its independent chain of eleven intercommunicating stations, whereby a message might be transmitted along its entire length within five minutes. In the instance of the present work, the precise coastal location has not yet been identified.

We would like to thank Sam Davidson with his assistance in cataloguing this lot.

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