Lot 61: GEORGE ROBERTSON 1749-1788 UNLOADING CARGO BY THE SHORE, AT PORT MORANT, JAMAICA; AND TWO

GEORGE ROBERTSON 1749-1788 UNLOADING CARGO BY THE SHORE, AT PORT MORANT, JAMAICA; AND TWO GENTLEMEN SURVEYING THEIR ESTATE IN JAMAICA

both oil on canvas

CATALOGUE NOTE

The topography of the first painting is clearly Port Morant on the south east corner of Jamaica, at the foothills of the Blue Mountains. This area was an important coffee growing area, and this corresponds with the millstones scattered around in the foreground which were used for pulping the coffee beans. The chain contraption was called a 'spider' and was used for moving and weighing hogsheads of sugar. The spider could also be used for swinging hogsheads into and out of carts. It is likely that the second landscape depicts one of these estates belonging to William Beckford, for whom Robertson worked in the early 1770s.

George Robertson studied landscape painting in Italy, and in 1774 he accompanied William Beckford of Somerley to the island of Jamica. William Beckford was the illegitimate cousin and historian of William Beckford of Fonthill, a portrait of whom as a young boy is included in this sale (lot 82). During this trip to Jamaica Robertson painted a number of views of the island which were subsequently engraved. These included views of Spring-head, of Roaring River, on the Estate of William Beckford; Fort William, Sugar Estate of William Beckford; and A View of Williamfield Estate. On his return these views were exhibited at the Society of Artists between 1775-1777.

each 62 by 101 cm., 24 1/2 by 39 3/4 in.