![]() ![]() The blazing ship was towed away from the Yarra Street Wharf by James Deane's tug Resolute. Water was pumped into lower hold in an attempt to douse it but the efforts of local volunteer fire brigades were unsuccessful. A fire that had broken out was discovered at about 1 am. The wreck of the Lightning caused by the fire was the worst shipping calamity in Geelong's history. ![]() The Lightning's entire life was spent on the Australian run carrying immigrants and cargo. It had the distinction of carrying, free of charge, early consignments of introduced animals, including rabbits, sent to Thomas Austin of Barwon Park, Winchelsea. 'Bully' Forbes, the Lightning made its first voyage to Australia in 77 days, and on its return voyage made it in a record 64 days. No water entered the vessel but, on arrival at Liverpool, a rock 6 feet long was found sticking through its timbers and beginning to work loose. In 1862, returning to Liverpool, it struck an uncharted rock in Rip. Note: "Built by Donald McKay, the Lightning was the first clipper built in the United States for a British firm. Housed in a metallic silver wooden frame with off white linen liner and metallic silver wood fillet. ![]() Handwritten index card with history of the Lightning en verso of frame. Signed and dated "Earl Collins '82" lower right. Case Study: Carroll Cloar (Janu– April 10, 1993)Įarl Edward Collins (Connecticut/New York, 1925-1992) oil on canvas maritime painting depicting the clipper ship "Lightning" sailing across tumultuous waters, an American flag visible at the stern.Case Study: Anna Catherine Wiley (Knoxville, TN, 1879-1958).Case Study: Richard Jolley (Knoxville, TN).Case Study: Great Road Pottery of East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.Items that are not a fit for Case auctions.I assure you, ladies and gentlemen, that we scarcely shipped a bucket full of water all the passage, and when going at sixteen knots, there was scarcely any more motion than we feel at the present moment" (As related in Ron Ranson, The Maritime Paintings of Montague Dawson, London, 1993, p. Attempts to bring the fire under control proved unsuccessful and the decision was made to pull her out to sea and scuttle her.Īlexander Young, a seasoned traveler just arrived in Melbourne from England aboard the Lightning aptly described the voyage: "I have much pleasure in adding my slight testimony to her well-earned fame by stating that she is the driest and easiest ship I have ever sailed in. In the early hours October 31, 1869, the Lightning caught fire at Geelong, south-west of Melbourne, while fully loaded and ready to sail. Captain James Nicholl-Forbes, commonly known as "Bully" Forbes, was one of the most famous characters in the British Mercantile Marine, and he pushed the ship to dizzying records, sailing her from Port Philip Head, Victoria, Australia to Liverpool in 64 days, three hours and 10 minutes. The ship quickly gained fame, not just for its opulent interiors-all 243 feet of her length were outfitted with marble and stained glass (and rumored to rival the later Queen Mary)-or its onboard newspaper called the Lightning Gazette. A powerful and heavily constructed ship, built to sustain rough seas and storms on the long trip to Australia, the 2095 ton wooden clipper was launched on January 3, 1854. The clipper Lightning was built by Donald McKay in Boston for James Barnes of Liverpool’s Black Ball Line, the first ship built in America for a British firm. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller." "This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The work should be hung in its current state. There do not appear to any other retouches except for a few spots in the lower right corner and possibly at the very front of the hull of the boat. The only area of actual retouching is immediately to the front of the vessel in the sky, to address some unevenness to a glaze here. ![]() Under ultraviolet light, it can be seen that some of Dawson's original paint layer reads strongly, particularly in the sky. There is no abrasion to the paint layer, and all of the rigging remains un-abraded. The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work has an old lining which is nicely stabilizing the surface. ![]()
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