Catalog entry

Commentary

Viewed while looking westward, with the sandy peninsula of Hull, Massachusetts, and its Point Allerton monument close abeam, a merchant brig departs Boston for a destination port to the south. Point Allerton marks the southern entrance to Boston Harbor and was commonly used by vessels bound for—or inbound from—southern ports.

In the foreground, a man in the bow of a yawl boat is furling a spritsail, the purpose of this activity being unclear. Beyond is a sloop—possibly a yacht—making good time under mainsail and jib. Astern of the brig is a half brig in the process of setting its fore course. The sail and spar proportions suggest that this vessel was originally a topsail schooner, but was rerigged as a half brig without reproportioning the sails on her foremast. In the far right background is a topsail schooner of more conventional rig and sail proportions.

The brig is not a new vessel. Her hull and rig are conservative in design and her sails are patched and worn. This type of ship was used in coastal trade with distant ports in North and South America (as in Gloucester’s Surinam trade), and her large cabin abaft the main mast indicates passenger accommodations, thus her employment in the packet trade.

Except for her furled main course and inner jib, all plain sail will be set once the fore royal is hoisted. The main course will remain furled while sailing downwind to allow the fore square-sails to draw fully, making steering the vessel less strenuous. The inner jib will also remain furled in this situation as it is blanketed by the fore course and would not add to the driving power of the sail plan. Lane’s attention to these details of ship handling are undoubtedly the reason why experienced sailors and knowledgeable vessel owners were his strongest admirers and patrons.

This painting’s brig bears a strong resemblance to the brig in Brig Off the Maine Coast, 1851 (inv. 241), as well as the half brig in Two Ships in Rough Seas, 1847 (inv. 34). All three vessels share a similar hull geometry, the one in this painting differing in having a simple gammon knee instead of a beakhead with carvings and head rails. Both this work and Two Ships in Rough Seas, 1847 (inv. 34) were painted in 1847, suggesting that the brig we see here was the basis for the brig depicted in the Two Ships painting. The same vessel is used again four years later in Brig Off the Maine Coast, 1851 (inv. 241). This adds to the argument that Two Ships in Rough Seas, 1847 (inv. 34) was a color sketch whose main subject was used selectively for larger works depicting other settings.

– Erik Ronnberg