Lot 45: Shipping off Cobh

George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson (1806-1884) Shipping off Cobh oil on canvas 23½ x 34¼ in. (59.7 x 87.1 cm.)

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George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson, born in circa 1806 at Queenstown, County Cork to English parents, started life as a ship's carpenter, and advanced to the post of Government Surveyor of Shipping and Emigrants at Queenstown, before embarking on an artistic career. His early experiences equipped him with a thorough knowledge of shipping and the sea, a contemporary commented that 'his ships were faultless in every detail, and his sky and sea faithful to nature in her varied forms of beauty (see A. Crookshank and the Knight of Glin, Ireland's Painters 1600-1940, New Haven and London, 2000, p. 218).

In the background of the present view can be seen the distinctive outline of the tower of Cobh Cathedral and the terraces of the town. The artist frequently re-used the same backdrops in his paintings, confident of the topogrphical accuracy.