Louis (Charles-Louis) Verboeckhoven (Belgian 1802-1889)
This exceptional example by Louis Verboeckhoven depicts shipping off the town of Vlissingen on the Southern Dutch coast. To the left is the historic Lampsinshuis, built by Zeeland merchant Cornelis Lampsins in 1641 in the then new style of Dutch Classicism, and is now the home of the Maritime Museum (MuZEEum). In the center is St. James the Great Church on the Old Market, built 1308-28 and rebuilt after heavy damage by a fire in 1911. Oranjemolen Tower Mill on the right was built prior to 1699 and is the closest mill to the sea in the Netherlands. It is a historic monument owned by the City of Vlissingen and is still in use today.

The Belgian marine artist Louis Verboeckhoven trained under his father Barthélemy, a sculptor, and his older brother, Eugène, a celebrated animal painter. Studying under Frans Balthasar Solvyns in Ghent, Louis developed an interest in marine painting and his work was highly regarded. Read more here…

John Hughes (British 1805-1880)
The John Fielden was built at St. Martin's, New Brunswick by Brown & Carson in 1846. She was of 916 tons and measured 157' x 31'2" x 21'. Her owner was John Wishert, a St. John merchant who was born at Montrose, Scotland in 1799. She was sold to Liverpool in November 1847 and was employed in the Australian immigration trade. On a voyage from Liverpool to Moreton Bay in 1853 she carried 393 passengers. She went missing in 1860.

William Webb (British Fl. 1860-1895)
Helen's Bank was built in Kincardine, Perthshire in 1869. She was 317 tons, with the official number 20794. She was owned by James Baird Wright, and registered in Alloa, Firth of Forth. By 1871 she was owned by William Thompson of Dixon of Liverpool, but in 1872 she no longer appeared on the Mercantile Marine List.

de Simone (Italian 19th century)
The Revenge was built at Pembroke Dockyard at a cost of 98,583 British Pounds and was launched April 16, 1859. She was the sixth vessel of this name and was a 3318 ton vessel of the "Reknown" class with 91 guns. Her dimensions were 244' 9" x 55' 4" x 24' 6" with a displacement of 5,500 tons. Originally to be of the James Watt class, Walker decided to improve the lines and provide space for more powerful machinery. In 1861 and 1862 the Revenge was flagship of the channel fleet under Rear Admiral Smart and Captain Charles Fellowes. She was also in the Mediterranean, and was the flagship for Admiral Yelverton in Valetta, Malta.

Lai Fong, attributed (Chinese Active circa 1870-1910)
The Jane Sprott was an iron barque with number 58900, built at Harrington in 1868 by R.W. Williamson & Son for J.B. Sprott of Mannering Road, Liverpool. She was 688 tons with dimensions 176' x 30' x 19'. Her signal letters were HPVJ. After 1890 she was owned by Jackson & Metcalf, also of Liverpool. She was bought by the Adelaide Steamship Company circa 1902, renamed Copeland Island, and then Copeland. She was used as a hulk in Albay until 1928, when she was scuttled on May 18, 1928 at Gull Rock, near Albany, Australia.

Abraham Hulk (Dutch 1813-1897)
Born in London in 1813, Abraham Hulk, Sr. was the most important member of the Hulk family of painters. He studied at the Amsterdam Academy and between 1833-1834 he visited America before returning to live in Holland. He became an established painter of marine subjects and regularly exhibited his work. He moved to London in 1870 where he remained for the rest of his life. Hulk’s skill at depicting atmosphere at sea mirrored that of the many artists of the Dutch Romantic School. Influenced by the Dutch artists of the 17th century, the Romantic painters excelled at scenes of everyday life which combined technical skill and attention to detail with a strong sensitivity to nature. These paintings were avidly sought after by the new middle class collectors of the 19th century, as they still are today. Hulk was equally skilful in painting a choppy sea with looming storm clouds as he was with this fine work of a calm estuary at sunset.

Frantz Landt (Danish 1885-1976)
Frants Georg Carl Landt was a Danish sailor, maritime pilot and painter. Born in 1885 to a fisherman and the daughter of a navigation teacher, Frants grew up on the sea. He attended Bogø Navigation school and obtained his mate’s certification in 1910, and from then regularly joined an expedition to Greenland.  

By his own account, Landt was an artist from a young age, drawing around his hometown of Nysted as early as 5 or 6. He began actively drawing ships in 1912 at the encouragement of an acquaintance who was an English draftsman. He soon moved into oil painting, but it was not until 1930 that his paintings began to sell well. In 1932 he had his first exhibition in Copenhagen with 47 paintings of shipping scenes including modern and historical interpretations. From 1936 he exhibited at the Danish Royal Academy and the same year was selected as the marine painter to accompany King Christian X on his journey to Iceland and the Faroe islands. Again in 1952 he joined the Royal Yacht Danneborg, accompanying King Frederik IX on his voyage to Greenland and the North Sea. His reputation cemented, Landt continued to paint mostly by commission until his death in 1975.   

Vilhelm Melbye (Danish 1824-1882)
This stunning work by renowned Danish marine artist Vilhelm Melbye depicts the famous steam frigate Sjaelland, known for its part in the naval battle of Jasmund during the Second Schleswig War on March 17, 1864. She was the middle of three sister ships, the Niels Juel, Sjaelland, and Jylland which were sail and screw propelled steam frigates as well as sailing ships, the world’s largest wooden war ships. Fregatten Jylland is preserved today as a museum in Ebeltoft, Denmark and considered a national treasure.

Vilhelm Melbye is one of Denmark’s most celebrated marine artists, the middle and best known of the three artistic brothers Anton, Vilhelm and Fritz.  His early work produced in Copenhagen before travelling abroad consists mainly of views around the city harbours and the surrounding fishing villages, and he was one of the first artists to paint the coastal area of Skagen at the northern tip of Jutland.  He preferred a realistic style, often depicting romantic or dramatic depictions of shipwrecks and adventures at sea. Read more here…

Johannes Christiaan Schotel (Dutch 1787-1838)
’Ship in a Turbulent Sea’ is a copy of, or possibly a sketch for, the painting by the same name in the Rijskmuseum in Amsterdam. Often compared to Ludolf Bakhuysen and Willem van de Velde the Younger, Schotel is regarded as one of the most important marine painters of Dutch romanticism. He excelled at capturing the effects of light and churning waters off the Dutch coast.

South Sea Whale Fishery, a 19th century hand coloured aquatint and engraving after a painting by W.J. Huggins, printed after the original printing of 1825.

Numbered "66" upper left and inscribed lower left "painted by W.J. Huggins marine painter to his MAJESTY, The Head of a large Whale in the Agonies of Death", lower centre "late London Published Jany 1 1825 by W.J.Huggins, Marine Painter, 105 Leadenhall Street. A Boat destroy'd by a Wounded Whale. A representation of the Ships Amelia Wilson & Castor off the Island of Bouro-with their Boats & Crew in the various process of Fishing, shewing the manner the Spermacetti Whales are caught also the mode of cutting them into the Ship & Boiling the Oil upon Deck; This Plate is most respectfully Dedicated to PH. Shelton And n Stirton & Wm Nichols Esqrs Owners of the said Ships by their most Obedient humble Servant W.J. HUGGINS London Published January 1, 1825 by W.J. Huggins, Marine Painter No. 105 Leadenhall Street (late from No. 36)" and lower right "Engraved by T. SUTHERLAND"

The Opium Ships at Lintin in China, 1824, a 19th century aquatint and engraving is after a painting by W. J. Huggins.Inscribed lower centre "LONDON PUBLISHED 1838, BY MR. HUGGINS, 105 LEADENHALL STREET." "THE OPIUM SHIPS AT LINTIN IN CHINA, 1824", "From a Painting in the possession of John Gover Esqre by W.J. HUGGINS, Marine Painter to His late Majesty William the 4th" and lower right "ENGRAVED BY E . DUNCAN."