A merchant clipper's bow cuts through the whitecaps atop an ocean swell, while a bright afternoon sun illuminates her full sails in this outstanding work by Montague Dawson. Like so many of Dawson's ship portraits he's chosen to portray a vessel of historic importance. This ship, the JOSHUA BATES, would ignite the career of her brilliant designer, Donald McKay- a pioneer whose elegant sharp bows and sweeping lines created the fastest and most reliable merchant clippers ever built.
The ship's famous speed and seaworthiness make her perfect for the type of portrait Dawson himself was famous for painting- dramatic scenes of hard driving ships in full sails set in active seas. The ship is well rendered with great detail including several sailors at work on her deck with two at the wheel aft. The sea is alive with color including some excellent contrasting dark and light teals in the sea which show the depth of the water and the translucency as sunlight hits the waves from behind. With a few deft brushstrokes he's captured water conditions any sailor would recognize, to the point where you can almost feel the wind and spray on your face. It's this mix of artistic skill with Dawson's great understanding of life at sea that makes this work among those most sought by collectors.
The 620 ton JOSHUA BATES was built in 1844 at the shipyard of McKay & Pickett of Newburyport, Massachusetts. The ship was designed by Donald McKay, then 34 years old and only three years into his partnership with William Pickett.
JOSHUA BATES was to be the first packet of merchant Enoch Train's White Diamond Line which would become one of the most important Atlantic emigrant routes from Europe to North America. At the time Train was the leading shipping merchant in Boston and this new line would sail between the port there and Liverpool taking cargo to Britain and passengers on the return voyage.
Having heard of the young McKay's skill as a designer and growing fame, Enoch Hidden visited the yards at Newburyport and was so impressed that within an hour they had signed a contract to build the ship. The JOSHUA BATES was such a success that on the day she was launched Hidden persuaded McKay to move to Boston and start a new shipyard of his own, which would go on to build many famous ships like FLYING CLOUD and SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS for Hidden and other merchant shipping lines.
JOSHUA BATES was built with large steerage accommodations for emigrants from Liverpool and McKay's designs were known to be more comfortable to the passenger while still designing a very seaworthy and fast ship. With steamships just coming onto the scene at this time, a sailing ship's good reputation was vital to their ability to sell passages, particularly higher class fares and reports of passages aboard these ships got a great deal of coverage in newspapers of the day.
In 1862 the ship would pass to a British/Australian owner who would sheath her hull in copper. She would continue to sail under Australian merchant lines until the ship finished her career in 1892.
The ship is well represented in historical works of art and a portrait of the JOSHUA BATES is in the collection of the Royal Maritime Museum, Greenwich in London and the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, Virginia among others. The ship was also painted by famous 19th century Chinese School artist Sunqua, showing the ship sailing into Whampoa. Dawson chose to paint many important ships of the clipper era, so it's no wonder he chose to create this vibrant image of a pivotal moment in the history of clipper ship design.
