Images(3)

HMS INFLEXIBLE at Fort Macquarie

Artist Frederick Garling (1806 - 1873)

Date1847

Object number00036483

NamePainting

MediumWatercolour

DimensionsOverall: 340 × 460 mm

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection Gift from Barry Moscrop

Collections

Ship portraits

Terms

DescriptionWatercolour depiciting HMS INFLEXIBLE possibly at Fort Macquarie. This work is unsigned but attributed to Frederick Garling.HistoryFrederick Garling was born in Holbom, England in 1806 and arrived in Australia as a child in 1814. Garling grew up and became a painter. In 1826 he was appointed as the official artist for Captain Stirling's expedition to the Swan River in Western Australia. Following the expedition, Garling accepted a position at the Customs Office in Sydney and continued to work there throughout his life. He painted during his own timeand became known as the most prolific marine painter in colonial Sydney. Garling is reported to have painted nearly every ship that entered Sydney Harbour. Garling rarely signed any of his artworks, including this yet it is attributed to him. HMS INFLEXIBLE was built in 1845 at Pembroke Dock, United Kingdom and sold in 1864. SignificanceThis watercolour is significant as it depicts a Royal Navy vessel in Sydney Harbour during the mid nineteenth century and attributed to Garling, the most notable maritime painter working in Sydney at the time.