The personal Dragon-Class Yacht of Queen Elizabeth and His Royal Highness Prince Philip, BLUEBOTTLE was gifted to the royal couple as a wedding present in 1948 by the Island Sailing Club of Cowes, the same year the Swedish designed yacht-class was accepted into the Olympic Games. Shown at the tiller with two companions, Prince Philip sails of the English coast before two other dragons, her D K192 designation visible and proud on the mainsail.

Built by the esteemed firm of Camper and Nicholson, the sharp yacht carries a Bermuda Sloop rig, and measures 29' in overall length with 18'6" at the waterline, quite a pronounced and sharp shape. The wood planking on timbers was a tight 6'4" beam with a 3'11" draught, making for a speedy and highly maneuverable sailing craft. BLUEBOTTLE would win an Olympic Bronze medal in 1956. She still summer sails occasionally today as part of the National Maritime Museum Collection, on loan from the Duke of Edinburgh.

Paintings by Montague Dawson continue to be in high demand. We strongly believe that as well as the yacht, the painting was owned at one time by Prince Philip himself. The scarcity of yachting scenes make any which come up for sale highly desirable. This composition is quite accomplished of a subject which Dawson painted two other known paintings, with one being reproduced as a limited print in 1953. His artistic excellence is apparent throughout this fine yachting scene.

Conrad Freitag was well known for his paintings of many of the New York Harbor pilot schooners. This fine portrait shows Number 18, J STAFFORD, one of the large “Station” pilots of the second half of the 19th Century off New York, under the New York & New Jersey Pilot’s Association. These nimble craft would spend a week at a time offshore waiting incoming ships requesting a pilot, on a rotating basis.

In this broadside view J. STAFFORD is probably cruising on station off Sandy Hook, New Jersey, the first landfall for incoming vessels. She is running under her full complement of canvas. Her pilot’s gig is stowed on deck as opposed to being towed, so there is no immediate request for a pilot, although she may be heading out to rendezvous with the large ship inbound on the horizon. The sun-laced sky is full of active clouds.

J STAFFORD was built around 1875 and served the pilot’s association for many years. An unusual event occurred in 1889, when a hurricane drove the Pilot Schooner AM LAWRENCE off station, and some pilots were unable to leave the vessels they were assisting and ended up sailing to port all over the world, including J STAFFORD’s Pilot Charles Anderson. Freitag does the working boat justice, with crisp detail and desirable coloration to sea and sky. The overall appeal of the composition is so excellently proportioned that the small canvas translates the vast distance between the ships, providing a sense of the skill these crews possessed to perform their guiding roles.

A story in action, Anton Otto Fischer’s marine narrative painting of a merchant sailing ship setting out shows a demanding situation found at sea. Two sailors out on the flying jib boom work the stays and tacks of the jibs, directed by the officer in blue, his bushy moustache marking him most likely as “Cappy Rick”. Fischer illustrated several Cappy Rick stories by Peter B. Kyne for The Saturday Evening Post, a popular fictional series based on real experiences, primarily in the West Coast lumber trade.

Fischer’s elevated perspective presents a third-person omnipotent view of the action and shows the ready hands on the deck assisting. The boom’s dolphin striker is dipped to the water, and the yellow slickers are undoubtedly soaked. The dramatic rising ocean swells are translucent with the blend of green-blue-white, and strikingly impasto. Fischer knew this ocean voyage well, earning his freedom from World War I Germany onboard.

The sense of building speed, especially with the churning white water before the bow, and the implied large size of the ship show the necessity of fast, competent skilled crewmen. Fischer illustrated such endeavors for The Post for more than 50 years, including the fictional adventures of shipping baron Glencannon and Tugboat Annie. His Cappy Rick works were first, from 1911 through the 1920s, and in the eyes of many, the best.

A fine work of art by the prolific Montague Dawson has a Royal Navy Revenue Ship of the British government chasing a full bodied brigantine carrying unknown goods in this dynamic scene. The drama shown of the men aloft and outward on the booms working the jib sails in interesting and full of danger, especially considering the muzzle flash and splash of the “taxmen” cannons. It is a rare Dawson painting to show deck activity and ships engaged in a pursuit. Dawson said he himself “battled” through his blank canvases, from sketches, models and preliminary paintings to deliver his masterpieces. He was known for working day and night, driven to succeed and finding a personal joy at his chosen profession. As a young man his family lived in Southampton in the residence known then and now as “The Smuggler’s House”, and he served firsthand in the British Navy Reserve and was well familiar with the last sail/steam warships of the British Navy. Likely he’d have held sympathy for both crews he has painted in this exceptional marine narrative.

In the action, possibly taking place in the English Channel near “The Downs”, a known haven for smugglers, Dawson’s Revenue Service men have sighted and sprung upon a brigantine. It appears they themselves are sailing a barque, as it appears to have two sets of yards with stunsails set. Under a wicked sky, the ships, sea and setting radiate with the romance of high seas adventure.

The strength of such a painting as this original scene by Montague Dawson is in its combination of mystery and familiarity. This is what Dawson does best. He had a single identity for the merchant racing ship, and her distant follower on the horizon for that matter. This ship is most probably the Clipper OBERON, a storied ship in the China and Australian Trades, as the figurehead is a near perfect match with a known Dawson painting of that Ship. Dawson made models and preliminary sketches for many paintings he would produce, and would revisit ships he admired. In another painting that is very similar to this work, “Clipper Days” it’s the ORIENT that’s featured, while an image that was titled “Up Channel” and widely reproduced shows the Clipper LAHLOO in her glory.

Showing the crew hard at work on the bow rail, the essence of speed is with the clipper, her stunsails wide and nearly every sheet available on the three masts. The English Channel allusion of the title means that the ship is headed home, after many months abroad, and loaded with precious cargo. Wispy trails in the sky show a strong breeze and a clear path, as she beat the rival to port soundly. The wooden sailing ship is hard-driven, performing as her captain and owner demanded.

Dawson’s mastery of detail and composition make this a fine work. His recognition as one of the world’s leading marine artists is enhanced by such traditional devices as the rolling bow wave and rhythmic pace of the swells within his blue sea. His recognizable technique comes forth on his following in the British Sea traditions of C. Napier Hemy and Thomas Somerscales.