605

WILLIAM GAY AND MARY E. YORKE

New York/Canada/England, 1817-c. 1888 and c. 1854-1893

Clipper ship Dreadnought.

Indistinctly signed and dated lower left "M.E. W.G. [?] Yorke, 1897".
Oil on canvas, 24" x 30". Framed 33.75" x 40".

  • Provenance:
    Vallejo Gallery, Newport Beach, California, 2003.
    The Kelton Collection of Marine Art & Artifacts.

    Note:
    This painting is a copy of an 1853 Currier & Ives print by noted marine lithographer Charles Parsons, after Duncan McFarlane's "Dreadnought Off Tuskar Light". The painting style is in keeping with other works attributed to William G. Yorke's young wife and assistant, Mary. The original signature on this work is a variation of "W.G. Yorke" that can be read as "M.E. York(e)". This signature is recognized by several experts, including Sam Davidson, and is considered the collaborative work of William G. and Mary.

    A number of paintings attributed to Mary Yorke in the Kelton Collection are based on printed illustrations, leading to the conclusion that after William G. Yorke was blinded by an accident in 1882, she created paintings based on known prints.

    Dreadnought was built for the Red Line's Atlantic packet service and became one of the most famous ships of her age. In her nine years on this run she made thirty-one voyages between New York and Liverpool, and she still holds the transatlantic merchant sailing record from Sandy Hook to Queenstown. Much of Dreadnought 's fame derives from a remarkable passage in 1863 when she lost her rudder in a gale. After two jury-rigged rudders were also lost, Captain Samuels ordered his second officer to sail the clipper stern first to Fayal in the Azores, some 350 miles away. Sailing backwards, the ship covered 183 miles in two days before the seas calmed and a third jury-rigged rudder was hung successfully. In 1864 Dreadnought left the Atlantic run and made her first voyage to San Francisco. She completed three voyages in the Cape Horn trade, calling at Honolulu and Callao on the return passages. On her fourth voyage to San Francisco in 1869, she went aground at Cape Penas on the northeast coast of Terra del Fuego. Although the crew survived, Dreadnought broke up on the rocks and was lost.

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August 20, 2021 9:30 AM EDT
East Dennis, MA, US

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