$5,036
Attributed to Thomas H. Willis (New York City, 1850-1925) Diorama Portrait of the Pilot Boat D.J. Lawler. Unsigned. Oil on panel with silk and velvet applications, 20 x 36 in., in an ornate gilt-gesso frame. Provenance: A fragment of the original backing paper with the name "H. J. Hayden" is affixed to the back of the diorama. It may indicate the possible original owner of the diorama Horace J. Hayden (1840-1900), who was the second vice president of the New York Central Railroad. An East Boston framer's label, also from the original backing paper, is also on the reverse. Note: The D.J. Lawler was built in 1882 at Weymouth, Massachusetts, and was named after the designer, D.J. Lawler who also designed many other pilot boats. She was a vessel weighing 71 tons, 73 ft. long, 21 ft. wide and 9 ft. deep. She met a terrible end on January 7, 1895 when she sunk after colliding with the fishing schooner Horace B. Parker in very thick fog in Boston Harbor. Four members of the crew went down with her, and only the steward survived. Two original articles describing the event, clipped from the Boston Daily Globe and the Boston Post dated January 7, 1895, accompanies the painting.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2009-11-08
