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Ship Portrait of the Schoonerbrigg *Frankfort Packet of Leith - Robert Lyall Commander* off Heligoland ca. 1830 - the sailing ship is shown under full sail at moderate sea - Watercolor and Gouache, 45 by 60 cm (18 by 24 inch) sight, with frame 51 x 67 cm (20 by 26 in) - inscribed on mounting with the name of ship and captain - good condition - Private Collection, Northern Germany

Note: On the left side we note a sailing boat which might be a pilot. On the right side is shown Heligoland Island. This is a fine, early ship portrait by an artist which does not often appear on the market. We like especially the good condition with only a minor spot of tanning and strong colors and very detailled drawing of the details. For more information about the ship see below.

F. T. Albinus
(German, fl. 1825-1850)

Photo Copyright is with the FineArtEmporium

The Brigantine "Frankfort Packet" was owned and operated by the Leith, Hamburg and Rotterdam Shipping Company who were specialized in a large trade with Hamburg and Rotterdam in the first half of the 19th Century. Other ships of their fine fleet were the "Rhine", "Edina", "Elbe", "Hamburg Packet", "Brunswick Packet" and "Hanover". All these were quick and well built Schooners or Schoonerbriggs. The company was managed by George Gibson and in 1848 John Davidson was the first to introduce an auxiliary steamengine in the Hamburg Trade - onboard the bark-rigged "Conside".

It was no uncommon on British ships in this period to hire German seaman and officers because they had special knowledge of the conditions in the Eastern North Sea. For German seaman it was a good opportunity to earn a living, since the German shipping companies did operate only few sailing vessels in this early times around 1830 (in this time there were only 92 sailing ships registered in Hamburg while there were thousands in Great Britain). The shown Brigantine was already a larger vessel of her time, most of the vessels afloat were one-masted Merchant Yachts or smaller Schooners. Full-rigged Ships and Barques were mainly used for Overseas Trade, Whaling and in the Navy. This is a fine and detailled executed portrait of an early ship trading to Hamburg. The artist was located in Hamburg (St. Pauli) and his watercolors appear only rarely on the market. He is represented in the Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte, in the Maritime Museum Troense, in the Maritime Museum Kronborg Castle, Elsinore and other collections.