FAMAG 1000.25
Nineteenth-century English ogee frame, veneered in bird's eye maple. Supplied by Paul Mitchell Ltd.
About this work
view without frame
Clark, William of Greenock (1803-1883): An Early American Steamer, signed and dated 1856, oil on canvas, 37 x 55 cms. Presented by De Pass, Alfred A. 1647353214.
More information about the frame
Bird?s eye maple became very fashionable in Victorian Britain when it became more easily obtainable from North America and Canada. However, because it still had to be imported and was also an extremely hard wood and difficult to work, it retained the cachet of a rare material, such as tortoiseshell, ivory or other exotic woods. Frames made of maple were popular because of this cachet, and because a frame was affordable, whereas a cabinet or desk might be out of reach economically.
This bird?s eye maple ogee frame is perfectly suited to Clark?s subject, not only because its colour echoes the warm tones of ship, sails and even sea in the painting, but because it shares an attributive connection with the ship itself, being made of wood. Clark was the son of a Greenock mariner and, in his apprenticeship as a decorative artist, would have gilded and painted both inside and outside the ships which serviced the ports around Glasgow. He was also an inventor, developing a ship?s paddle; thus he had an intimate acquaintance with wood, paint and ships. This work may originally have been framed in a very similar way; as it is, it has settled comfortably into this contemporary antique frame.
About the Artist
William Clarke was one of Scotland's finest painters of ship portraits. He was born in Greenock, near Glasgow, and lived and worked there his entire life from a studio in William Street. Many of commissions were received from the owners of the early steam ships which operated from the River Clyde.