Lot 91: Joseph Heard (British, 1799-1859) The full-rigged William Fisher sailing in company with the barque Nithsdale, each vessel sporting the house flag of Martin & Co. of Dumfries

The full-rigged William Fisher sailing in company with the barque Nithsdale, each vessel sporting the house flag of Martin & Co. of Dumfries
oil on canvas
55.9 x 87.5cm (22 x 34 7/16in).

The full-rigged William Fisher was built in Liverpool for Darbyshire & Co. of the same city in 1844. Registered at 364 tons gross (327 net) and measuring 104 feet in length with a 26 foot beam, her maiden voyage was to Quebec and thereafter she journeyed to Bahia and also Valparaiso. Sold to Martin & Co. of Dumfries in 1852, at which time she was put into the Ceylon trade, she later reverted to South American sailings until sold to new owners in Maryport in 1866. Throughout the 1870s she was mostly employed in the West Indian trade and was laid up for the last time in 1885.

The barque Nithsdale was custom-built for Martins at Sunderland in 1855, the company's largest vessel to date. Registered at 382 tons and measuring 119 feet in length with a 27 foot beam, she traded exclusively to South America until sold to Mannings of London in 1868 at which time she transferred into the West Indian trade. On 20th March 1875 she left Calcutta after a sole voyage to the Indian sub-continent but disappeared at sea and was never heard of again.

Given that both vessels in the work offered here are flying the Martin's house flag, this dates the painting to the last four years of the artist's life (1855-59).