Gouttelette Print. On paper: Image Size: 24 x 36 inches.Paper Size: 28x 40inches On Canvas: Image 20 x 30 inches with 2 inch margins all round, varnished
Montague Dawson himself declared "My painting gives me a tremendous sense of exhilaration, almost as if I were there on the ship itself... You have to get life into a marine painting to make a ship move through the water, and be lifted by the waves. There are a great number of paintings of ships that are not marine paintings at all, simply paintings of ships... People want a ship as a point of focus and interest but I only look on the ship as part of the whole composition. I like to get a broad sky effect as well. I am after atmosphere in the elements." "Of all ships, the clipper thrills me the most. There is terrific romance in a sail. No yacht or any other boat has the beauty of a sailing ship bowling along in a spanking breeze - the hum and thrill of the sails."
The clipper ships thrived in the half Century from 1840. Built originally for the profitable tea trade from China, clippers were tall, elegant and much faster than contemporary merchant ships. They were long and thin, with sharp bows, rigged masts, and billowing sails. Created for trade, the glamour of the new ships caught the attention of the public and soon the ships were racing each other across the world's oceans in an attempt to set faster and faster times for their shipping routes, in what was becoming a smaller and smaller world. The Kaisow was a composite tea clipper built in 1868 by Robert Steele & Company in Greenock. The maiden voyage was from London to Shanghai, which took 99 days in 1869.
The ship foundered on the 15th of November 1891, 60 miles WSW of Valparaiso on a voyage from Coquimbo to Great Britain after a cargo of manganese ore had shifted.
Each print is hand numbered, accompanied by a certificate signed by the Master Printer and is numbered to match the print. The editions are limited to 1880 copies.