Clipper Ship Lady Montague
Painting of the Clipper Ship Lady Montague
Who is Lady Montague?
Clipper ship Lady Montague is one of the artist’s few fictional ships; that is to say, one will find no actual historical record of such a ship. Update: coincidentally there was in fact a convict ship from the mid 19th century (England to Australia) named Lady Montagu. She would probably have looked quite similar to the ship depicted in this painting. Had the artist been living at that time, he would have been a likely candidate as a passenger. However, James actually named the ship after the wife of the first Earl of Sandwich, Edward Montagu (an older spelling of the name) (1625 – 1673), a man he came to greatly admire through the writings of Samuel Pepys (1633 – 1703). James, after coming across a picture of Montagu’s wife, Jemima and finding her beautiful, decided that an equally beautiful ship must be her namesake, and thus Lady Montague came into existence.
About Clipper Ships
Clipper ships dominated sea trade throughout most of the nineteenth century. Even with the emergence of a newer technology producing the faster and more powerful steam ships, sailing vessels were more economical and continued their popularity well into the twentieth century. So popular were these ships in the bloom of global trade that their classic silhouette has become an international trademark for sea faring transport.
Lady Montague represents the last of these elegant sailing vessels. Her long lines and massive square rigging illustrate the perfect marriage of ship and sea. Merchants and pirates, sailors and immigrants, all sailed on these ships, more than enough material for those wonderful and sometimes lurid tales of romance and adventure at port and sea, tales brought to mind at once by the image of a clipper ship.
About the Painting
In this painting, Lady Montague is depicted departing the English Channel in the early 1900’s. In the background to the left steams the German ocean liner SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, while a classic schooner, Pamela, glides into the channel from the right forefront. Pamela has been out to sea for many months. Clinging to the ratlines, her captain shouts through his speaking trumpet, hoping to hear some news from the departing clipper ship.