Lot 186: Mathieu-Antoine Roux (French, 1799-1872)

The U.S. Snow Cygnet in two positions in the Mediterranean, c.1824
watercolor and gouache
20 1/2 x 28 in. (52 x 71 cm.)

The Cygnet was built at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1822 and owned by Stephen White. Measured at 215 tons, she was 92= feet in length with a 23 foot beam and her first master, at least on her maiden voyage, was Captain William Story. Depicted in the Mediterranean, probably off Marseilles, by Antoine Roux the younger, there is another version of this work (signed and dated 1824) in the Peabody Essex Museum Collection at Salem (see Marine Paintings & Drawings in the Peabody Museum, M.V. & Dorothy Brewington, Salem, 1968, p. 294. no. 1195 - the gift of Dr. Charles Weld, 1906).
A snow was a two-masted square-rigger, usually no larger than 1,000 tons, very similar to a conventional brig except that the mainsail was carried on a light, auxiliary "snow" mast immediately abaft the mizzen mast. Developed for its usefulness in simplifying sail handling, the gaff supported on this "snow" mast was often loose footed.