FLYING CLOUD
Artist
Frederick Schiller Cozzens
(1846-1928)
Date1909
Object number00009073
NamePainting
MediumWatercolour paint on paper
DimensionsOverall: 405 x 662 mm
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection
Purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds
DescriptionWatercolour ship portrait by Frederick Schiller Cozzens of the three-masted clipper ship FLYING CLOUD. Cozzens painted the portrait the frontispiece of Arthur C Clark's book 'The Clipper Ship Era'. It depicts the American three-masted clipper ship FLYING CLOUD from the starboard side, fully rigged and flying an American flag from its stern. This painting belonged to Captain Clark and then the Boston Yacht designer, Francis Herreshof.HistoryThe era of the clipper ships was dominated by a sense of romance, competition, national pride and innovative technology. These sleek and graceful ships were a symbol of American modernity and fundamental to the expanding global economy. Their design concentrated on speed instead of cargo capacity, a great benefit to shipping companies eager to transport goods quickly.
FLYING CLOUD was the most famous clipper ship to be built by renowned shipbuilder Donald McKay. It was launched in 1851 at East Boston, Massachusetts and helped establish McKay's career and his shipbuilding expectations for the future.
FLYING CLOUD's launch coincided with the Californian gold rush. Ships making the passage to the gold fields between New York and San Francisco took an average of two hundred days, while FLYING CLOUD took a groundbreaking eighty-nine. In its later years the vessel transported tea from China to London, making the journey in one hundred and twenty-three days. Eventually the growing prevalence of steam powered ships diminished the use of FLYING CLOUD and its companion clipper ships. In 1874 the ship became grounded and was used for scrap metal after it was condemned.
SignificanceThis watercolour represents 20th century ship portraits and the FLYING CLOUD, an important clipper ship involved in the Australian wool trade.
1851
