Lot 20: Henry Scott (British, 1911-2005)

Star of Persia signed 'Henry Scott' (lower left) oil on canvas 76 x 102cm (30 x 40 in)

Launched from the famous Belfast yards of Harland & Wolff in 1868, ‘Star of Persia’ was one of the splendid fleet of commercial sail built for J.P. Corry & Co., also of Belfast, during the twenty-four year period from 1862 to 1886. Designed as an iron-hulled full-rigger, ‘Star of Persia’ was registered at 1,289 tons gross (1,227 net) and measured 227 feet in length with a 35 foot beam. Intended for the Calcutta jute trade, it was said that she and her identical sister ‘Star of Greece’ were the two fastest and finest ships on the run and under her first master, Captain Savage, she certainly set the pace for the rest of her career. Her usual outward cargo was about 1,850 tons of coal and her best-ever passage out from London to Calcutta was 79 days in 1876. Discharging her coal, she would then load some 8,500 bales of raw jute and even though the return journey would normally take slightly longer, she frequently broke her own records for this homeward run. After twenty-five years of reliable service to her original owners, ‘Star of Persia’ was sold to C.M. Matzen of Hamburg in 1893 and renamed ‘Edith’. Last listed in 1904, she disappears from record thereafter.