Studio RT Ltd

Description

We are delighted to offer for sale this superb and quite dramatic watercolour by the renowned marine watercolourist Charles Taylor Jr. who has signed the painting in the lower left hand corner and entitled it verso 'Steam Packet off the South Foreland'. The sea appears to be quite rough and there is a storm brewing. The boat has two masts, twin white funnels and two paddle wheels. There are a few scattered fishing vessels to the left.

Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation in European countries and in North American rivers and canals, some of them steam driven. They were used extensively during the 18th and 19th centuries and featured regularly scheduled services.

The South Foreland is a chalk headland on the Kent coast of south east England. It presents a bold cliff to the sea, and commands views over the Strait of Dover. It is centred 3 miles north east of Dover and 15 miles south of North Foreland.

Charles Taylor Jr. followed in the footsteps of his father, Charles Taylor Senior, who flourished 1836-1873, although his father painted mainly historical scenes in oils and only switched to watercolour marines in the mid 1840s, after his son's success in the genre Works by the father and son are often attributed to either, as both signed Charles Taylor with no additional initial or designation. However, it is very apparent that Junior's work holds a better technical sense, especially with his use of watercolours. This may be because of his collaborations with British artist/lithographer T. G. Dutton, and the need for accuracy when creating a work on stone during the lithographic process.

Charles Jr. had a total of 75 London Exhibitions, four of which were with the Royal Academy and eight with the British Institution. They are almost universally marine subjects showing scenes around the Thames Estuary and the Channel ports. He lived, so it is said, in London and Hastings. He often signed in red, as in this case, and frequently entitled his works on the back. Both he and his father had commercial associations with the Suffolk Street Galleries.

Sadly, it hasn't been possible as yet, to give a birth and death date for this artist, or his father, due to the popularity of the name Charles Taylor in the records. It seems that none of the reference books can give them either, other than the dates they were active

The painting is mounted with washlines and is framed in a substantial 1 1/2 inch gilt frame. It will be supplied with new brass fittings, new brass picture wire and will be ready to hang.

Image size: 22 x 14 1/2 inches - 55.9cm x 36.85cm

Frame size: 31 3/4 x 24 1/4 inches - 80.65cm 61.6cm

Medium: Watercolours

Condition: Very good. The colours are strong and there is no foxing or fading. The mount and frame are in very good condition.