Artist: Charles Slee
A portrait of the brig Emerald of Montrose approaching Riga under the command of A. Watson in 1841. Painted in watercolour by this rarely seen artist, Charles Slee, working from Riga as a pierhead painter and often titling himself as 'Ship Drawer'.
The Emerald was built and launched in the same year this portrait was painted and it is likely that the portrait was commissioned to mark her maiden voyage. Just six years later, on the 12th January 1847, the Emerald was lost at Broadhaven Bay.
Following the Great Northern War (1700-1721) and the fall of Sweden, the ports from Novgorod to Riga, Reval and Narva came under Russian authority and by the end of the eighteenth century the Baltic was dominated by Russia and Hamburg; the Port of Riga becoming a major trading hub within the Russian Empire, playing a significant role in maritime trade and the exchange of commodities.
A catalogue of the Altonaer Museum in Hamburg shows them to hold 3 works by Slee, the portraits of Melona, Hero and Jean Laing, all at Riga. In 2009 Christies sold a portrait of The Riby Grove of Hull, also in the port of Riga, at the sale of Avon Antiques, 'A West Country Tradition', lot 67.
Within a period bird's eye maple veneered frame and embossed gold foil mount.
o.s: 31.5 in x 25.5 in
work within the mount: 24.25 in x 18.25 in
Item Code: 4139
£ 3750
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