LOT DETAILS

Materials:

Oil on canvas

Measurements:

25.00 in. (63.50 cm.) (height) by 39.00 in. (99.06 cm.) (width)

Markings:

Signed and dated lower right: Christopher Blossom / 74

Provenance:

Private collection, Connecticut. Built in 1853 in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, the three-masted Morning Star was the premier vessel in the American whaling fleet based out of New Bedford, Massachusetts. The Morning Star made 18 grueling voyages between 1853-1914, mostly to the rich whaling grounds at the southern tip of South America where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans converge. The ship's owner, S. Thomas & Co., and various captains set records for the lucrative haul they amassed: thousands of barrels of sperm oil, a necessity for lamp illumination and machinery lubrication, and tens of thousands of pounds of whalebone, popularly converted into corset stays and children's toys. In the present lot, artist Christopher Blossom depicts the hardy whaler resting in the New Bedford harbor, home of the hugely successful American whaling industry, valued at a staggering $21 million in the mid-19th century.