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Lot Essay
The Wild Pidgeon was built for Olyphant & Co. of New York by George Raynes at Portsmouth, New Hampshire and launched on 31st July 1851. Registered at 991 tons (American), she measured 189 feet in length with a 40 foot beam and was intended for the China trade. Described by an observer as 'one of the most beautiful and jaunty ships afloat', she had long sharp lines and was well sparred, with a large sail plan. A popular ship both for cargo and passengers, she proved fast although no record breaker, and turned in consistently good passages, especially under Captain Mayhew. Sold in 1865 for $35,000, by 1868 she was Spanish-owned and named Bella Juana, later renamed Voladora and rigged as a barque, she was abandoned at sea in a sinking condition on 17th February 1892.
Sweepstakes was built for Chambers & Heiser by D. & A. Westervelt at New York and launched on 21st June 1853. An ideal clipper designed for speed, she was registered at 1,735 tons and measured 235 feet in length with a 41 foot beam. Damaged during launching but repaired at a cost of $20,000, she entered service running first to San Francisco and thence to Hong Kong and the China ports. Her fastest passage, and probably a record for that run, was New York to Bombay in 74 days in 1857, but there were many other good passage times throughout her career. Sailing from Adelaide in ballast early in 1862, she arrived in Batavia that April having been grounded on a reef in the Sunda Straits for ten hours. A survey showed she was badly damaged and she was sold for breaking in situ due to the huge estimated costs of repairing her.
Sweepstakes and Wild Pidgeon only sailed in company once in their careers, on the run from Anjer (Java) to New York early in 1854. Passing Anjer together, they then passed and re-passed each other continuously until docking in New York on the same day. It is presumably this voyage that Barry Mason has captured in the above work.
Sweepstakes was built for Chambers & Heiser by D. & A. Westervelt at New York and launched on 21st June 1853. An ideal clipper designed for speed, she was registered at 1,735 tons and measured 235 feet in length with a 41 foot beam. Damaged during launching but repaired at a cost of $20,000, she entered service running first to San Francisco and thence to Hong Kong and the China ports. Her fastest passage, and probably a record for that run, was New York to Bombay in 74 days in 1857, but there were many other good passage times throughout her career. Sailing from Adelaide in ballast early in 1862, she arrived in Batavia that April having been grounded on a reef in the Sunda Straits for ten hours. A survey showed she was badly damaged and she was sold for breaking in situ due to the huge estimated costs of repairing her.
Sweepstakes and Wild Pidgeon only sailed in company once in their careers, on the run from Anjer (Java) to New York early in 1854. Passing Anjer together, they then passed and re-passed each other continuously until docking in New York on the same day. It is presumably this voyage that Barry Mason has captured in the above work.