$2,370
British/Canadian School, Early 20th Century Portrait of the Steamship Empress of Ireland. Signed "W. KITZIG" l.r., identified on vessel. Oil on canvas, 27 x 40 3/4 in., in a later frame. Condition: Two punctures, u.l. and u.r. Note: The Empress of Ireland was an ill-fated ocean liner built in 1905-1906 by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering in Scotland for Canadian Pacific Steamships. She held a mail subsidy contract between Britain and Hong Kong via Canada. On the morning of May 29, 1914, while steaming on the Saint Lawrence River amidst a dense fog, the Empress was struck amidships by the Norwegian coal freighter SS Storstad. The fatally damaged vessel sank very quickly and claimed 1,012 lives, making it the worst maritime disaster in Canadian history.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2009-06-07
