GERALD C TOBEY entering Port Phillip Heads, 24 December 1885

Maker George Frederick Gregory (1821-1887)

Date1886

Object number00015715

NamePainting

MediumWatercolour paint, paper

DimensionsOverall: 1011 x 695 mm, 1.85 kg

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection Purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds

Collections

Ship portraits

Terms

DescriptionWatercolour by George Frederick Gregory of the full rigged barque GERALD C. TOBEY. Its sails are unfurled and its flying the United States flag from the mizzen mast and a white flag with a red inscription 'G.C. Tobey' reversed. The GERALD C. TOBEY was a barque of 1390 tons built at Bath, Maine in 1878.HistoryGERALD C. TOBEY was built and owned by Gross, Sawyer & Packard and launched in August 1878. For her maiden voyage she transported a load of timber from Maine to Cardiff which took 20 days. Until 1900, GERALD C. TOBEY traveled around globe transporting a wide variety of items including coal and wheat. She mainly traveled between Atlantic ports, China and Japan. GERALD C. TOBEY was sold in 1900 to Welch & Co in San Francisco and for the next eight years carried sugar to the Hawaiian islands. The vessel continued in that role following its sale to Captain William Matson in 1908. Two years later it was sold to the Ocean Barge & Towboat Co. of Seattle and converted into a barge. GERALD C. TOBEY became a total loss in July 1914 after foundering in the Seymour Narrows, British Columbia.SignificanceThe work represents the commercial shipping trade of the nineteenth century.