작품 상세

Antonio Jacobsen (Danish/ American 1850-1921) FOUR MAST SCHOONER HERBERT D. MAXWELL Signed, dated and inscribed lower right "ANTONIO JACOBSEN 1905/ 705 PALISADES AV. WEST HOBOKEN NJ" Oil on canvas 28 3/8 x 48 in. Literature: Harold S. Sniffen, Antonio Jacobsen's Painted Ships on Painted Oceans, Newport News (1994) Recorded: cf. Harold S. Sniffen, Antonio Jacobsen-The Checklist (1984), pp. 146-147 Other Notes: Herbert D. Maxwell was built in 1905 by New England Ship Building Company at Bath, Maine for William J. Quillan, her owner and captain. She measured 185.9 x 38.4 x 14.0, 772 tons. Designed and built to carry bulk cargoes such as coal, lumber, ice, bricks, phosphate, sugar, case oil, gypsum, sulpher, building materials, etc., she plied the Eastern Seaboard for seven years before being run down and sunk by the steamer Gloucester during the pre-dawn hours of March 16, 1912. As New England's industries grew after the civil war the power of its many streams was no longer sufficient, and the new mills and factories employed the steam power fueled by coal. As New England railroads expanded more coal was needed for their operation. In the cities and towns coal gas was used for illumination and cooking. At the turn of the century the shift to electricity required even more coal for the central power stations. On top of these requirements was the need for coal to heat houses, offices, and stores. To meet this insatiable demand a low cost and efficient delivery system evolved that relied first and foremost on the hundreds of schooners that plied the protected coast-wide trade. During the last part of the nineteenth century, and early part of the twentieth large schooners were feasible in the coal and other coastwise trades only because of their low cost to build, maintain, and manning requirements. Schooner construction was concentrated in New England, generally in Maine, and principally at Bath because it was it there that skilled master builders and low-priced skilled labor was possible to find in abundance. Coal was a relatively low grade cargo, frequently stored for long periods at both loading and discharging ports, hence speed was not necessary in it's transportation, and sailing vessels could be employed to advantage. Small steamers were not efficient enough to offer serious competition. The coastwise coal trade also benefited from the fact that the Hudson River and the Berkshires were effective barriers to large-scale movement of coal by rail. After discharging their coal cargos at a major New England Port, the larger schooners went south empty. They were designed to sail without ballast (Herbert D. Maxwell is depicted sailing south in her portrait) as the cost would have added to operating expenses to say nothing of the time lost to load and unload it. Herbert D. Maxwell was engaged on such a voyage when she came to grief as described in the following article from the March 17 edition of the Washington Post. SCHOONER SINKS; 4 LOST. RUN DOWN IN CHESAPEAKE BAY BY MERCHANT AND MINERS' LINER. Baltimore, Md., March 16. - Four lives were lost at 4:30 o'clock this morning off Thomas Point in Chesapeake Bay, when the schooner, Herbert D. Maxwell was cut down and sunk by the steamer Gloucester, of the Merchants and Miners Transportation Company. The dead are: J. C. COTT, of New York, mate of the Maxwell. A colored cook from New York, unidentified. Two colored sailors, shipped here, and believed to be from New York. Capt. WILLIAM J. QUILLAN, who also owned the schooner, his brother, ELAY, and four sailors were saved by the crew of the Gloucester after they had floated around for half an hour on pieces of wreckage. The Maxwell did not sink until several minutes after the collision, and some of the men were taken off her by the crew of the Merchants and Miners steamer. The Gloucester was bound for this port from Boston with cargo and passengers. The Gloucester was not badly damaged by the collision. The Maxwell was bound from this port for Wilmington, N.C., with a cargo of fertilizer. It was said the collision was the direct result of an effort on the part of the Maxwell to cut across the bows of the Gloucester, her helmsman believing that he had plenty of room, as he was carrying a sailful of wind at the time. There was evidently a miscalculation and as it was impossible for the Gloucester to swerve fast enough, the big iron coaster caught the little schooner almost amid-ships. It was still dark when the collision occurred, but it is admitted that both vessels carried their full complement of lights. Only the few who were on duty were on the deck of the Gloucester, and most of these did not witness the collision. With the grinding and crash of wood as the vessels swung together the Gloucester awoke to life. She had passed on beyond the stricken schooner, and while attempts were being made in the engine room to stop the big liner as soon as possible, her helmsmen bore in a circle around the stricken schooner, and boats were ordered lowered at once. Willing arms fairly made the lifeboats spring through the waters, and in a short time the bulk of the Maxwell hove in sight. The survivors of the collision were calling frantically that the schooner was sinking under them. Two members of the crew were seen perched in the rigging and were taken off. Clinging to a poop deck that had floated away from the wreckage were Capt. QUILLAN and his brother. Then a few minutes later another of the men was found floating near the wreck on a spar. Of the nine members of the crew those five were all that could be found, and it is believed that the others were either killed by the collision or were drowned instantly. Antonio Jacobsen was a native of Denmark who came to New York in 1873 apparently with the intention of becoming a ship portrait painter, an ambition he achieved with remarkable success. During all but his last few years, Jacobsen enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle that reflected the financial success of his life's work. Jacobsen deserves the dual title of marine historian and marine artist. His clients - mostly ship's officers, crewmen and owners demanded accuracy - and accuracy was what they received. He chronicled the transition from sail to steam and the full commercial magnetism of the port of New York. He was a prolific artist who left a legacy of over 2400 known works. The artist's home in Hoboken, New Jersey, was a Mecca for seafarers and artists, including Fred Pansing, James E. Buttersworth, Frederick Bishop, and Frederic Cozzens. On Sundays, Jacobsen would arrange concerts at his house where he and his friends played chamber music. Many tales abound regarding the artist's personality, eclectic interests, and artistic methods - including his improvidence, multi-lingualism, musical talents, voracious book reading and collecting, and the utilization, late in his career, of his two children to paint the backgrounds in his work. Works by Jacobsen can be seen in most of the major collections of marine art. Two of the most extensive public collections of Jacobsen's oeuvre are at the Mariner's Museum, Newport News, Virginia, and The Peabody Museum, Salem, Massachusetts.