Montague Dawson, F.R.S.A., R.S.M.A. (1895-1973)
Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's… Read more PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF HORACE HAVEMEYER III
Montague Dawson, F.R.S.A., R.S.M.A. (1895-1973)

The celebrated clipper Cutty Sark racing home

Details
Montague Dawson, F.R.S.A., R.S.M.A. (1895-1973)
The celebrated clipper Cutty Sark racing home
signed 'MONTAGUE. DAWSON.'' (lower left)
oil on canvas
28 x 42 in. (71.4 x 106.7 cm.)
Provenance
with Harlow, McDonald & Co., New York.
with Kennedy Galleries Inc., New York.
Special notice
Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent. These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

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Lot Essay

Built in 1869, by which date the sailing ships' monopoly of the China tea trade was almost at an end, Cutty Sark not only made her name as one of the fastest commercial sailing vessels of all time, but has also achieved further immortality now that she is the sole surviving example of her breed. Ordered by J. Willis & Son of London from the unknown Dumbarton yard of Scott & Linton which went bankrupt before Cutty Sark was completed, she was actually finished off by Denny Bros. who had her ready for launching on 23rd November 1869. Registered at 963 tons gross (921 net), she measured 212½ feet in length with a 36 foot beam and was constructed from only the finest materials. At her best in strong beam and quartering winds when none of the other clippers could catch her, she frequently made 15 or 16 knots and even managed 17½ on one celebrated occasion. Although she broke no records for her passage times, she nevertheless performed consistently well on the China run until, ousted by steam, she was put into the Australian wool trade in 1883. It was on this route that she really made her reputation for speed and turned in many remarkable runs prior to 1895 when she was sold to Portuguese owners who re-rigged her as a barquentine.

Surviving the Great War, she was brought home for restoration in 1922 and eventually floated into her permanent dry-dock at Greenwich in 1954. Badly damaged by fire on 21st May 2007, whilst undergoing further conservation, she has now been restored to her former glory.

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