Inspirational without exaggeration, the New Bedford Whale Ship CHARLES W. MORGAN is coming home on her last whaling voyage in this excellent realistic work by artist Charles Rosner. Weighted heavy with her prized catch - the MORGAN could hold more than 90,000 gallons of whale oil. The 105' ship would usually have a crew of about 35 whalemen onboard.
The last surviving wooden wall whaling ship, the CHARLES W. MORGAN is home today at Mystic Seaport. She started her career in 1841, built by the Hillman Brothers on order from her namesake, a Quaker merchant from Pennsylvania who relocated to New Bedford. During his career, Morgan owned or managed more than 33 whaleships. The CHARLES W. MORGAN alone made more than one million dollars over the course of her 37 voyages under 20 captains. After 1886, she sailed for the Pacific and based in San Francisco from 1888 until 1906, when she returned to New Bedford. She ran her last whaling voyage in 1921.
The realism of the sea the whaler is riding upon is very well done, and the chaotic pace of the white-capped swells is rhythmic without repetition. Head of crew members are visible at the rails, dwarfed by the expanse of canvas driving the ship. Rosner, a working sailor himself, appreciated her in her active role and as an icon of the American whaling industry in entirety.
