The ALEXANDER, Captain Phillipson getting underway off Macquarie Fort Sydney NSW 1847

Images(4)

The ALEXANDER, Captain Phillipson getting underway off Macquarie Fort Sydney NSW 1847

Artist Frederick Garling (1806 - 1873)

Date1847

Object number00046950

NamePainting

Mediumwatercolour on paper, wood frame

DimensionsOverall: 472 x 575 x 63 mm, 3136.4 g framed

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection

Collections

Ship portraits

Terms

DescriptionThis watercolour ship portrait of the ship ALEXANDER in 1847 shows the vessel off Fort Macquarie leaving Sydney NSW. It was painted by renowned marine artist Frederick Garling whose prodigious output covered most of the ships that came to Sydney during his lifetime as an artist.HistoryThe ALEXANDER was launched in 1828 for Toulmin and Co, at London. It was 523 registered tons, rigged as a ship and served as a mixed passenger/cargo vessel. It is reported to have arrived, departed or been in Sydney in 1835, 1836, 1840, 1844 and 1847. The master from 1835 to 1844 was W. Ramsay, and it was trading between England, Australia, the Orient and India. AlEXANDER arrived in Sydney on 31 March 1847, after a passage from the UK with a mixed cargo of foods and other supplies, and 13 passengers. The master at this time was Captain Philipson. A report in the Maitland Mercury 31st march 1847 noted ' The Alexander has made good passage of 109 days from Downs; which, considering she is a Post Office Packet, is rather to be wondered at. She has been detained on this coast some time, having been ten days from Cape Otway.' The vessel departed for Valparaiso Chile on the 3rd of May 1847, under the command of Philipson. This is likely to be the date for the scene depicted by Garling as there are no other records of the vessel being in Sydney from 1847. SignificanceThe watercolour of the ship ALEXANDER commanded by Captain Edward Philipson in 1847, by Australia's premier colonial maritime artist Frederick Garling, represents the many mixed cargo and passenger vessels servicing Sydney in the 1840s. The work reveals topographical details of colonial Sydney in the 1840s, including Fort Macquarie, Government House and Sydney Cove making the painting an important colonial view. Garling painted many of the ships that came to Sydney NSW during the mid 19th century. Most of his paintings were in watercolour and a large number were unsigned.