The Northern Whale Fishery: The ship Harmony of Hull and other ice-bound whalers, hunting seals, narwhals and whales on the Davis Straits whaling ground off Greenland

Details

William John Huggins (1781-1845 London)
The Northern Whale Fishery: The ship Harmony of Hull and other ice-bound whalers, hunting seals, narwhals and whales on the Davis Straits whaling ground off Greenland
signed and dated 'W.J. Huggins. 1835' (lower left)
oil on canvas
36 x 52 ½ in. (91.4 x 133.4 cm.)

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Phillip's, London, 9 June 1987, lot 11.

Exhibited

London, N.R. Omell, Exhibition of Marine Paintings of the 18th, 19th & 20th Century, no. 42.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

The present work depicts the English and Scottish whaling fleet, including Harmony of Hull, Eliza Swan of Montrose and Margaret of London, on the Davis Strait whaling ground between south-east Baffin Bay, Canada and Greenland. An engraving was made of the same subject after a watercolour by Edward Duncan which was published in London in 1829. An earlier version of this composition, almost identical with some minor variations, although slightly smaller, is held in the collection of the New Bedford Whaling Museum, New Bedford, Massachusetts.

A prolific painter of ship's portraits and naval battles, William John Huggins served with the East India Company on board the Perseverance, sailing to Bombay and China in December 1812. On his return, two years later, he established himself as a marine painter, exhibiting regularly at the R.A. and in 1836, he became Marine Painter to both George IV and William IV.

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