Lot 56: George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson (1806-1884)HMS Conqueror off Queenstown

George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson (1806-1884)HMS Conqueror off Queenstown, CobhOil on canvas, 31 x 45cm (12¼ x 17¾)Born in Queenstown, now Cobh Co. Cork, in 1806, George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson chose not, unsurprisingly, to go to sea as a youth; becoming a ships carpenter before returning to Cobh to take up a position as a Government Surveyor of Shipping and Emigrants at Queenstown. The deep natural harbour and its position made Cork a principal point of departure for merchant ships and emigrants to America; and beyond, for the naval base, home to a squadron commanding the Western approaches to the United Kingdom.Atkinson, known locally as Captain Atkinson is frequently listed as self-taught, although sketching was a valued skill taught to all naval officers for reconnaissance. It is likely he received some casual tuition from a shipmate.Atkinson’s works largely depict his environs and his lifelong interest in ships and the sea. His practical knowledge is evident in his depictions of the intimacies of rigging.The present work must date to the early part of the 1850s, depicting H.M.S. Conqueror. Conqueror was built in 1852, serving briefly in the Mediterranean. She fell afoul of a reef in 1861 and sank off Rum Cay in the West Indies. Her loss was reported on the 30th of January 1862 in the Cork examiner.