Sir Henry Morgan's attention to detail in rendering the proper placement of the ship’s sails and rigging reveals him to be well-versed in maritime history and his play of light and shadow on the rippling water and overcast sky demonstrates a keen sense of atmosphere. Glory of the Seas was the last ship built by Boston’s Donald McKay, one of the most successful clipper ship designers of the era, and launched in 1869 to much fanfare. 

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Her maiden voyage between New York and San Francisco in 1870 was completed in 120 days, besting the time made by the extreme clipper Sea Serpent just a few days earlier. Yet Glory of the Seas, as a medium clipper with ample room for cargo, was intended for commerce and she proceeded to sail the high seas between Liverpool, San Francisco and Australia for the next four decades before retiring to Seattle in 1911 as a floating salmon cannery. Despite efforts by a group of prominent Bostonians to save her from a fate unbefitting her name, Glory of the Seas was dismantled and burned for her metal in 1923. 

Provenance:

Private collection, Redmond, Washington

With Vose Galleries, Boston, inventory no. 30585, May 1992

To private collection, Westport, Massachusetts, November 1997 to present

Inscription:

1). (top stretcher in pencil) GLORY OF THE SEAS BY / SIR HENRY MORGAN

2). (top stretcher in pencil) AT SINGAPORE

Labels:

1). Previous Vose Galleries label, inventory no. 30585

2). Roger King Gallery of Fine Art, Newport, Rhode Island, with Artist, Size, Medium and Title