The four-masted barquentine Renfield under full sail

Details

O. Godfrey, 19th/20th Century
The four-masted barquentine Renfield under full sail
signed and inscribed 'Godfrey/Newcastle/N.S.W.' (lower right)
pen and brown ink and watercolour heightened with white
17 x 22½ in. (43.2 x 44.4 cm.)
and a gouache of a cutter riding the swell by another artist (2)

Special notice

This lot is subject to Collection and Storage Charges. No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

The concept of the four-masted barquentine as a means of making sailing ships more economical to run came from Mr. James Fairlie in 1893 and he took the idea to W.T. Lithgow of Russell & Co., shipbuilders of Greenock. The result was a quintet of innovative and identical four-masters one of which, Renfield, was built for J. Archie Russell in 1895. According to James Fairlie, these barquentines were easily able to hold their own against the square-rigged deep-watermen of the day and they could all make 300 miles in 24 hours under favourable conditions. Renfield herself was registered in Port Glasgow at 1,112 tons gross and measured 209½ feet in length with a 35½ foot beam. Classified by Lloyd's surveyors at 100A1, she proved a highly successful and long-lived vessel ending her days as a coal hulk at Leith after the Great War.

More from Maritime

View All