JEWELLERY, DECORATIVE & FINE ARTS AUCTION Tuesday, 22 February 2022 - 10:00 AM start

Lot 0135 « Prev Lot View All Lots Next Lot »

George Frederick Gregory Jnr. (Aust 1856-1916)

Realised: $1,200 plus premium

Lot Details

'HMS. Calliope Steams Out of Apia', watercolour, signed and dated lower right, 670 x 1220mm. Provenance: The Desmond Adcock Maritime Collection Auction, Melbourne 2013. Calliope was a Calypso third class cruiser of the Royal Navy which served from 1887 until 1951. Classified as both a small cruiser and a corvette, she exemplified the transitional nature of the late Victorian navy. She was among the last of the sailing corvettes but supplemented her sail rig with powerful engines. Among the first of the smaller cruisers to be given all-metal hulls, she was cased with timber and coppered below the water line, as were wooden ships. After retirement from active service, she served as a training ship until 1951, when she was sold for breaking. This watercolour depicts a tropical cyclone that struck Apia, Samoa in 1889 where the HMS Calliope was the only surviving ship out of about 15 in the area. Most of the other ships, including American and German warships, struck reefs, were sunk or beached.