Bounding home: Reaching on a starboard tack as she battles through the ocean

Although sadly depicting an unnamed vessel, this engaging work by Montague Dawson bears all the characteristic hallmarks of the artist. His fascination with the beauty of the great commercial sailing ships of the second half of the nineteenth century is all too evident as this thoroughbred takes full advantage of the fresh breeze to clip through the swell, albeit under reduced sail so as not to strain her topmasts. One senses she must be racing for home rather than outward-bound but Dawson gives no clue as to either her cargo or intended destination. Her lines suggest she is one of those classic clipper ships of mid-century, perhaps engaged in the exotic China tea trade, but there were many other lucrative forms of employment for these "ocean greyhounds". Whatever her role however, she is undoubtedly a racer and the feeling of speed and strength she radiates is almost palpable.