A stalwart merchant vessel of the American Northeast, J.E. CHASE was a Maine-built bark of the finest quality. Under the command of Captain Frank B. Davis, she voyaged across the Atlantic Ocean in 1875 to trade on the northwestern shores of France, as captured here by regional portraitist Marie-Edouard Adam. The painting holds its original crisp depiction of the bark, and strong visual identity with all her flags, including her four-character Merchant Code identity, set off against the blue sky. The Normandie Coast, especially the port of Le Havre, directly connected the New York shipping to all of Continental Europe.
J.E. CHASE was named as a memorial to a Maine ship captain, John Chase, who ran ships and crews the world over but met his fate while at the helm of the Clipper GRANITE STATE when it was lost in 1868. The Portsmouth builders honored the man with christening of the 668-ton Bark after him that year. J.E. CHASE measured 152'L x 32'B x 18'D. The Chase Family were prominent sailing merchants throughout Massachusetts and New York, and also established the Necco Candy Company. Adam, undoubtably on direct commission, has captured both the ship's beauty and a maritime narrative of the French Coast, with the height of Le Havre rising on the horizon in this fine work.
