Loading Spinner
Don’t miss out on items like this!

Sign up to get notified when similar items are available.

Lot 276: WILLIAM BRADFORD, Massachusetts/California, 1823-1892, Clipper Golden West of Boston, outward bound, circa 1852., Oil on canvas, 32"...

Est: $60,000 USD - $80,000 USDSold:
Eldred'sEast Dennis, MA, USAugust 13, 2020

Item Overview

Description

WILLIAM BRADFORD
Massachusetts/California, 1823-1892

Clipper Golden West of Boston, outward bound, circa 1852. Signed and indistinctly dated lower right "Wm. Bradford Fairhaven Mass 1st Month 1853". Label verso marked "Golden Wave, So. Fla. A.G. Estate, GPH-12/27". Another older label, designating a loan to an exhibition, indicated the lender was Albert Goodhue, obviously the "A.G." of the estate, and Carl Crossman's client.
Provenance:
Child's Gallery, Boston, Carl Crossman, director.
Albert Goodhue, Jr., purchased from the above circa 1965.
Northeast Auctions, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 1996.

Hyland Granby Antiques, Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.
Purchased from the above by the Kelton Foundation
.
Literature:
See William Bradford--Sailing Ships & Arctic Seas
by Richard Kugler (New Bedford Whaling Museum and the University of Washington Press, Seattle and London, 2003), p. 6 for a discussion of the painting and p. 95 for a full-page color illustration.
Exhibited:
De Cordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts, November 2-December 28, 1968.
New Bedford Whaling Museum, "William Bradford--Sailing Ships and Arctic Seas", May 24-October 26, 2003, Richard C. Kugler, curator.


The American clipper ship Golden West is shown outward bound, departing on her maiden voyage to San Francisco on December 12, 1852, depicted with the lighthouse on Little Brewster Island, the customary point of departure for Boston-owned vessels. The Golden West is shown in a starboard profile from the leeward, sailing into the wind with her sails braced hard on the port tack. The American ensign flies from the mizzen-gaff hoist and the prominent house flag of Glidden & Williams is worn at the truck of the main mast. The ship's gilded eagle figurehead is a prominent detail identifying the ship. The schooner off the clipper's bow is likely her departing pilot boat.

The 1,441-ton
Golden West, as her name suggests, was active in the Pacific and California trades. Built for the Boston firm of Glidden & Williams, she was an extreme clipper, making several trips around Cape Horn trading between China, Australia and the American West Coast. She still holds the record for the fastest sailing passage between Japan and San Francisco-- 4,876 miles in just over 20 days -- under Captain Putnam, from May 13 to June 2, 1856. In the early 1860s, between voyages from the West Coast or the Orient to New York and London, she traded in harbors throughout the Far East.
After being sold by Glidden & Williams, she was owned for some time by the New York firm of J.A. & T.A. Patterson. In 1863, as a result of the heavy toll taken against U.S. clippers by Confederate Commerce Raiders,
Golden West was sold to a British owner, J.G. Ross. In 1866, under Ross' ownership, she was engaged in transporting Chinese laborers between China and Peru. Her ultimate fate is unknown.
A closely related painting of the clipper
Dashing Wave is in the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. Another painting of Golden West by J.B. Smith of Brooklyn, done in 1857 for her captain, is illustrated in The American Neptune Pictorial Supplement #1 (1959) as plate XXVI. It is also in the Peabody Essex collection.
According to Artists of New Bedford A Biographical Dictionary
by Mary Jean Blasdale (The New Bedford Whaling Museum, New Bedford, Mass., 1990), p. 46-47, William Bradford was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Despite his parents' efforts to guide him into a family business career, his childhood interests in art prevailed, and in the 1850s Bradford was selling ship portraits in New Bedford for $25 apiece. Bradford's artistic endeavors were spent working in Swampscott and Nahant and he then established a studio in Boston, where he worked for several winters. In 1869, Bradford made a notable expedition to the Arctic onboard the steamer Panther. Following this trip, he produced a book titled The Arctic Regions, a folio volume published in 1873 in England under the patronage of the British Royalty, including Queen Victoria.
Bradford went to Boston to produce 10 known paintings of large merchant clipper ships, mostly between 1852 and 1853. By his own recollection, "Captain Glidden of Boston gave me an order to paint a vessel", presumably for his shipping firm of Glidden and Williams, and probably of
Queen of the Sea or Golden West, both of which he painted in 1853. Golden West did not return to the East Coast until January 1854, supporting the theory of the painting being a depiction of
Golden West's departure from Boston on her maiden voyage. The inscription has been miscopied as "11th month (November) 1853" on the title plaque mounted to the frame. Bradford most likely would have observed and recorded the ship's initial December 1852 departure, completing the painting a month later in January 1853. An overlooked detail of this painting is the unintended "ghosts" of two ships seen on the horizon line between the pilot schooner, likely part of Bradford's original composition but that appear to have been painted over and replaced with smaller versions to create the perspective of greater distance as the work progressed. Richard C. Kugler, director emeritus of the New Bedford Whaling Museum, wrote in June, 2000, regarding the loan of Golden Westfor an upcoming exhibit, 'More than any of the eight other (Bradford) clipper portraits I am acquainted with, I would like your example, thinking it the most classic of its kind'. Kugler further mentions, in a follow-up letter from June 2002, of coming across an interview with Bradford where the artist recalls, "Captain Glidden (senior partner Glidden & Williams) gave me one hundred dollars for a picture about four feet long", quite likely a reference to this 48" wide image.
Compared with his whaleship portraits, those of the clippers are larger in size, perhaps to accommodate their greater length and taller masts, or to match the prevailing standards for painting of this kind in Boston. The largest of them was this painting. The clipper ships have a more formal air about them, with their depiction intent on showing the search for speed under sail. Bradford's paintings of whalers are smaller, with small whaleboats and a different structure and composition from the clipper ships. The clipper ship paintings were made before Bradford's association with the Dutch-trained marine artist Albert Van Beest, who arrived in Boston in 1855.


From the Kelton Collection of Marine Art & Artifacts.
Oil on canvas, 32" x 48". Framed 38.5" x 54.5".

Dimensions

Oil on canvas, 32" x 48". Framed 38.5" x 54.5".

Condition Report

Overall excellent condition. The painting has an old relining. Under UV examination there is a small spot retouching to the upper left and minor spot retouching around the clouds to the right. The surface has a fine, stable craquelure across the entire painting, most evident in the lower corners.

Please contact Eldred's 48 hours prior to the auction start time with condition report requests. Please do not bid on any item without reading the condition report. The absence of a condition report does NOT imply that an an object is free of defects or restoration. Please contact Eldred's before bidding with any questions as to condition. Condition reports are provided as a complimentary service and only reflect the opinion of Eldred's and should not be taken as a statement of fact. Condition reports only detail flaws or restorations and do not take into account wear, fading, or other issues consistent with an object's age.

Payment & Shipping

Payment

Accepted forms of payment: American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Money Order / Cashiers Check, Personal Check, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

We require prompt payment and removal of your purchases as stated in Paragraph 12 of the Conditions of Sale. If you plan to pick up your purchases, please call ahead and we'll make every effort to have your items ready. Our physical address is 1483 Route 6A, East Dennis, MA. Pick up of smaller items at our Mystic, CT location is also available with advance notice.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to provide shipping quotes until the invoice had been paid in full.
In house shipping is offered exclusively though UPS. All items are shipped with UPS insurance (max. $50,000). UPS insurance is billed at $2.70 for the first $100 and at $0.90 per hundred afterwards. Eldred's charges a minium $15 handling fee per package plus actual UPS shipping charges.
COLLECTION OF PURCHASES: Delivery or shipping arrangements must be made within seven (7) days from the close of the auction for all purchases. All items must be removed from Eldred's facilities within fourteen (14) days of the end of the auction. All items remaining after fourteen days may be subject to a $5/per item/per day storage fee. No items will be released unless storage fees are paid in full. Items remaining over thirty (30) days from the close of the auction may be sold for the buyer's account minus auction and storage fees.

Auction Details

The Marine Sale

by
Eldred's
August 13, 2020, 10:00 AM EST

1483 Route 6A PO Box 796, East Dennis, MA, 02641, US

Terms

Live bidding may start higher or lower

Buyer's Premium

$0 - 499,999:25.0%
$500,000+:10.0%

Bidding Increments

From:To:Increment:
$0$49$5
$50$199$10
$200$499$25
$500$999$50
$1,000$2,999$100
$3,000$4,999$250
$5,000$9,999$500
$10,000$29,999$1,000
$30,000$49,999$2,500
$50,000$99,999$5,000
$100,000+$10,000

CONDITIONS OF SALE

1. CORRECTNESS OF DESCRIPTION: Robert C. Eldred Co., Inc. (hereinafter referred to as Eldred's) has exercised reasonable care to catalog and describe correctly the property to be sold, but neither Eldred's nor its consignors warrant the correctness of description, attribution, authenticity, or condition of said property. No statements shall be deemed such a warranty or representation or an assumption of liability with respect thereto, but are to be construed as opinions only. Bidders are encouraged to personally examine all property to be sold prior to the beginning of the auction.

2. Unless otherwise announced by the auctioneer at the time of sale, all bids are per lot as numbered.

3. Eldred's reserves the right to withdraw any property before the sale.

4. DETERMINATION OF HIGHEST BIDDER: The highest bidder accepted by the auctioneer shall be the buyer. In the event of any dispute between bidders, the auctioneer may determine who is the successful bidder or the auctioneer may re-offer the article in dispute and his decision shall be final.

5. REJECTION OF BIDS: The auctioneer reserves the right to reject any nominal raise or any bid or raise which, in his opinion, is not commensurate with the value of the article being offered. At his discretion, he may also reject any nominal raise or any bid that he may determine as having a detrimental effect on the item in question or the sale as a whole. Eldred's may refuse to issue bidding privileges to any person not in good credit standing with Eldred's, who has no credit standing, or to any person who is deemed by Eldred's in its sole discretion, to be disruptive of or harmful to established auction practices, either before or after the acceptance of bids or the fall of the hammer.

6. TITLE: Except as herein otherwise provided, title will pass to the highest bidder as determined by the auctioneer, and the property is thereafter at the purchaser's sole risk and responsibility.

7. PAYMENT: On title passing to the highest bidder acknowledged by the auctioneer, and subject to all the conditions set forth herein, such bidder will thereupon pay the full purchase price. Payment in full is due within 7 days of the time of sale. Any bills not paid in full within 25 days of the date of the sale will accrue interest at a rate of 1.5% per month. In addition, the purchaser may be subject to one or more of the following actions: a) Any and all legal remedies available to Eldred's and its consignors by law including without limitation the right to hold the purchaser liable for the total purchase price; b) Immediate cancellation of the sale, with Eldred's retaining as liquidated damages all payments made by the purchaser; c) Resale of the property at public auction, wherein the original purchaser shall be liable for any deficiency, costs, and Eldred's commission on both sales. At Eldred's option, payment will not be deemed to have been made in full until Eldred's has collected funds represented by checks, or in the case of bank or cashier's checks, their authenticity has been confirmed. A buyer's premium will be added to the hammer price to be paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price.

8. ORDER BIDS: Subject to these Conditions of Sale and to such terms and conditions as it may prescribe, but at no charge to the customer, Eldred's will undertake to execute all order bids submitted to it by a customer who has established credit with said company. Requests for such bidding must be given in writing with such clearness as to leave no room for misunderstanding as to the amount to be bid and must state the catalog number and the name or title of the article to be bid on. Telephone bids must be confirmed in writing or by cable. All bids are kept in strict confidence. In the event of identical bids, the earliest will take precedence (This applies to bids left directly with Eldred's NOT for online left bids). IMPORTANT ONLINE BIDDING NOTE: Because the live auction console does not differentiate between left bids and live bids, the first bid accepted by the auctioneer is the winning bid, regardless of the time the bid was originally left. Eldred's shall not be held responsible for errors or failure to execute bids. A deposit of 10% of the total amount bid is required. TELEPHONE BIDS: While the sale is in progress, bidding by telephone may be allowed by the auctioneer at his discretion. A deposit of 10% of the anticipated top bid is required. Eldred's shall not be held responsible for any failure to properly execute such a bid whether it be due to equipment failure, loss of connection, or failure to hear or understand the bidder's directions. Any advice or opinions provided by Eldred's or its employees are given strictly as a courtesy and are not a warrant of condition, attribution, authenticity, or description of said property. All bidding by telephone is solely at the risk of the bidder.

9. CONDITION: If for any cause whatsoever any article sold cannot be delivered, or cannot be delivered in as good condition as the same may have been at the time of sale, due to a failure or damage on the company's part, the sale will be cancelled, and any amount that may have been paid on account of the sale will be returned to the purchaser. EXCEPTION: Eldred's will not be held responsible for damage to picture frames or lampshades. Eldreds will not be responsible for damage by the shipping agent or their shippers after it has been delivered to such agent by Eldreds.

10. SALES TAX: All purchases are subject the buyer's individual sales tax rules and Eldred's economic nexus in the state. Please assume that your state sale's tax will be collected.

11. RESERVES: Unless advertised as an "Unreserved Auction", all sales may have items subject to reserve (an agreed upon price between the auctioneer and the consignor, below which the article will not be sold).

12. COLLECTION OF PURCHASES: Delivery or shipping arrangements must be made within seven (7) days from the close of the auction for all purchases. All items must be removed from Eldred's facilities within fourteen (14) days of the end of the auction. All items remaining after fourteen days may be subject to a $5/per item/per day storage fee. No items will be released unless storage fees are paid in full. Items remaining over thirty (30) days from the close of the auction may be sold for the buyer's account minus auction and storage fees.

13. PACKING and Shipping. In all cases the packing and shipping will be handled by an outside agent and arranged for by the purchaser. Eldreds uses the local UPS store or Pak Mail store. Eldred's will provide alternative shipping suggestions for items to large to be handled by these firms. Any other arrangements are the responsibility of the purchaser. Eldred(TM)s must be informed as to such arrangements. After payment purchases will not be kept in Eldred(TM)s possession pending delivery, for more than a week. The UPS store, Pak Mail Store or shipper of purchasers discretion will be responsible for removing them and storing them at the purchasers expense until shipment. Eldred's will not be responsible for damage or loss once the item has been received by the shipper. In the case of fragile articles, shipping will be undertaken at the sole discretion of the shipper.

14. These Conditions of Sale cannot be altered except in writing by Eldreds or by public announcement by the auctioneer at the time of the sale.

15. Bidding on any article(s) indicates acceptance of the terms set forth above.

16. These Conditions of Sale

Absentee Bids

Because of the manner in which our online system processes and transmits left bids, Eldred's does not receive bid information until the exact moment of sale. Because the bidding console does not differentiate between left bids and live bids, the first bid accepted by the auctioneer is the winning bid, regardless of the time the bid was originally left.

Payment

We require prompt payment and removal of your purchases as stated in Paragraph 12 of the Conditions of Sale. If you plan to pick up your purchases, please call ahead and we'll make every effort to have your items ready. Our physical address is 1483 Route 6A, East Dennis, MA. Pick up of smaller items at our Mystic, CT location is also available with advance notice.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to provide shipping quotes until the invoice had been paid in full.
In house shipping is offered exclusively though UPS. All items are shipped with UPS insurance (max. $50,000). UPS insurance is billed at $2.70 for the first $100 and at $0.90 per hundred afterwards. Eldred's charges a minium $15 handling fee per package plus actual UPS shipping charges.
COLLECTION OF PURCHASES: Delivery or shipping arrangements must be made within seven (7) days from the close of the auction for all purchases. All items must be removed from Eldred's facilities within fourteen (14) days of the end of the auction. All items remaining after fourteen days may be subject to a $5/per item/per day storage fee. No items will be released unless storage fees are paid in full. Items remaining over thirty (30) days from the close of the auction may be sold for the buyer's account minus auction and storage fees.

Shipping

We require prompt payment and removal of your purchases as stated in Paragraph 12 of the Conditions of Sale. If you plan to pick up your purchases, please call ahead and we'll make every effort to have your items ready. Our physical address is 1483 Route 6A, East Dennis, MA. Pick up of smaller items at our Mystic, CT location is also available with advance notice.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to provide shipping quotes until the invoice had been paid in full.
In house shipping is offered exclusively though UPS. All items are shipped with UPS insurance (max. $50,000). UPS insurance is billed at $2.70 for the first $100 and at $0.90 per hundred afterwards. Eldred's charges a minium $15 handling fee per package plus actual UPS shipping charges.
COLLECTION OF PURCHASES: Delivery or shipping arrangements must be made within seven (7) days from the close of the auction for all purchases. All items must be removed from Eldred's facilities within fourteen (14) days of the end of the auction. All items remaining after fourteen days may be subject to a $5/per item/per day storage fee. No items will be released unless storage fees are paid in full. Items remaining over thirty (30) days from the close of the auction may be sold for the buyer's account minus auction and storage fees.

Buyer's Premium

A 25% Buyer's Premium will be charged on successful bids.

Contract

Your bid is a legally binding contract. Upon the fall of the auctioneer's hammer, title will pass to the highest bidder, and the property is thereafter at the purchaser's sole risk and responsibility. Users must register and be approved to bid before the auction. Eldred's reserves the right to deny approval for any reason. Accounts with private feedback will be approved under any circumstances.