~ 1899 Gouache Painting Of The Battleship HMS Anson Homeward Bound ~
The painting is presented in a glazed wooden frame with a single gold mount. It depicts the battleship in December, 1899. There is an old framers label for Portsea from that period to the reverse. The piece is unsigned but I would attribute it to William C. Cluett.
~ HMS Anson ~
HMS Anson was the last of six Admiral-class ironclad battleships built for the Royal Navy during the 1880s. The ship was completed, except for her armament, in 1887, but had to wait two years for her guns to be installed. She was assigned to the Channel Fleet in mid-1889 as a flagship for the fleet’s second-in-command. Two years later, the passenger ship SS Utopia sank with the loss of 562 lives after colliding with Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar. In mid-1893, Anson was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet, subsequently returning home in 1900 when she was assigned to the Reserve Fleet. She recommissioned for the Home Fleet in early 1901. Anson was paid off three years later and then sold for scrap in 1909.
~ Condition ~
All in good order.
~ Dimensions ~
The frame is 32 cm (12.5 inches) wide and 27 cm (10.5 inches) tall.
The exposed painting is 17.5 cm (6.75 inches) wide and 12.5 cm (5 inches) tall.
