A bright sky serves as a background to fast-moving merchant sailing ship on a deep-toned rolling ocean in this oil painting by maritime enthusiast and artist Henry Scott. The medium clipper, tall at five courses of sail up her masts, employs stuns'ls at the extreme lengths of her yards, using the extra canvas to push ahead of her competitor on the horizon.
Scott, an artistic fixture amongst the wharfs of Liverpool, was well familiar with some of the last Clipper Ships sailing. His professional association with the Master Mariners of Liverpool kept him recording the great ships of his days and the historic vessels and stories personally recounted to him by the men who lived those moments. The tea trade and racing to be the first ship to market were some of the most prominent stories told, but far from the only ones. Epic storms, fast passages and chance encounters over the world's oceans all make appearances in his artworks. Crew members manning the forward rail would have some interesting tales to tell.
Illuminating the canvas work of Scott's textured brush strokes, which in this case are intentionally capturing the direction of the natural elements. One of several artists to follow in the wake of Marine Master Montague Dawson, Scott was also represented by Frost & Reed Galleries. In this case, Scott is careful to show neither the ship's carved figurehead or nameboard to concrete his subject ship's identity. Scott chose her instead to be representative of a great many of the last "Wooden Walls" of the world's merchant sailing ships.
