Lot 167: ALEXANDER CHARLES STUART WATERCOLOR USS NINA

Alexander Charles Stuart, (Scottish/American, PA, 1831-1898) Watercolor of the USS Nina. The USS Nina, a 4th rate iron screw steamer, was laid down by Reaney, Son & Archbold, at Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1864; launched 27 May 1865; delivered at New York Navy Yard 26 September 1865; and placed in service as a yard tug at the Washington Navy Yard 6 January 1866. With conservators letter from 1990, correspondence from the Brandywine River Museum and a Exhibition Book from the 1997 Alexander Charles Stuart exhibition at the Brandywine River Museum. In wood frame measures 15 1.2"x11 1/2"x1". Weight on all 2 pds 14 oz. PROVENANCE: A Private Charleston SC Estate. Alexander Stuart was born in Scotland on June 2, 1831. He received his early schooling in Glasgow, and later attended the Rugby School, England. He studied at the University of Edinburgh, receiving one degree in draftsmanship and one in medicine. Afterwards, Stuart traveled extensively with the British Royal Navy, visiting Australia and all parts of Europe. Stuart emigrated to Chester, Pennsylvania in 1861, and served in the Marines, then joined the Union Navy in 1863, when he began to create ship paintings and watercolors. After resigning from the Navy in 1866 he was naturalized as a U.S. citizen and worked primarily as an artist and illustrator for the merchant shipbuilding firms of John Roach & Son and Harlan & Hollingsworth, in Wilmington, Delaware. He was a marine draftsman for this company, painting pictorial records of the vessels built by Harlan and Hollingsworth. He spent his later years painting in and around Philadelphia until his death in August, 1898. Stuart's landscapes and seascapes are now among private collections and museums in the Philadelphia and Wilmington areas.

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