Cardiganshire Sloop the “Brothers Cardigan James Thomas Master” SOLD
Oil on Canvas c1850
28″ wide x 23″ high £4200 Sold
A 12 ton sloop or smack, the Brothers was built in 1822 by the Harris family at Aberarth, a small village at the mouth of the river Arth just north of Aberaeron in Cardiganshire. The Harris family remained in business at Aberarth until 1846 when a cloud burst up on the Mynydd Bach turned the Arth into a raging torrent, washing the shipyard, a chapel and some houses into the sea. The Harris family moved to Aberaeron and continued to build ships there for another two decades.
Many vessels known as Sloops or Smacks in West Wales were engaged in coastal trade between other parts of Wales, carrying various cargoes such as lime, culm (fuel) and roofing slate. They were small vessels and with a crew of maybe only three, but were vital for the local economy.
This painting has a wonderful naive quality such as the prominence given to the Brothers in relation to the much larger steamship in the fore ground, but also with great attention to detail such as the rigging and the three members of crew. This ship portrait may have been painted for a member of the crew such as the Master, James Thomas, or maybe a shareholder of the ship.
See: Maratime Heritage, the ships & seamen of South Ceridigion by J.Geraint Jenkins, Gomer.
Pierhead Painters by Roger Finch, Barrie & Jenkins 1982
And information from Dr David Jenkins, Senior Curator, National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.