The John and the Hull whaling Fleet in the Artic with a Polar Bear Hunt on the Ice-cap in the Foreground

The John, 343 tons, was built by Shepherd's of Sutton (Hull) for Messrs. Marshall, Cooper & Co., in 1810 and was one of three new Hull whalers completed that same year. Sailing for the Canadian Artic whaling grounds in the Davis Straits (separating Greenland from Baffin Island) immediately, she returned with the Hull fleet each season thereafter until she was wrecked in Baffin Bay in 1821. Fortunately, all aboard her were saved but the weather that season was expecially bad and in all, nine Hull vessels - including the John - were lost in and around the straits when, trapped by strong south-weterly winds closing up the ice, they were eventually crushed in the frozen sea. First commanded by her part-owners Thomas (1810-14) and Richard (1815-17) Marshall, she then had one season under Robert Ash (1818) before being taken over by Captain Nathaniel Newham in 1819 who was still in command when she was wrecked.

This work was seemingly executed as a companion piece to Willoughby's 1803 portrayal of the Cooper whaling fleet now held in the collection of Hull's Ferens Art Gallery.

Christies are indebted to both Arthur Credland and Dr. Tony Barrow for their assistance in identifying the vessel shown here and named 'John' as the one built in 1810.