John Charles Allcot, (1888-1973)
American Clipper Ship 'Wavertree' Leaving Sydney Harbour with Pilot Boat.
c. 1971
Oil on Canvas Board
58.5x73.5cm
Private collection
Wavertree is a historic iron-hulled sailing ship built in 1885. Now the largest wrought iron sailing vessel afloat, it is located at the South Street Seaport in New York City.
Wavertree was built in Southampton, England in 1885 and was one of the last large sailing ships built of wrought iron. She was built for the Liverpool company R.W. Leyland & Company, and is named after the Wavertree district of that city.
The ship was first used to carry jute between eastern India and Scotland. When less than two years old the ship entered the "tramp trades", taking cargoes anywhere in the world. In 1910, after sailing for a quarter century, the ship was dis-masted off Cape Horn and barely made it to the Falkland Islands. Rather than re-rigging the ship its owners sold it for use as a floating warehouse at Punta Arenas, Chile. Wavertree was converted into a sand barge at Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1947. This ship was discovered in 1967 at the Riachuelo River in Buenos Aires by an American citizen working on a sand barge and acquired by the South Street Seaport Museum in 1968. The ship was sent to the Arsenal Naval Buenos Aires for restoration. In 1969 after restoration was complete, the ship was towed to New York. The vessel was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 13, 1978. More on the Wavertree
John Charles Allcot (1888-1973), artist, was
born in Liverpool, England, son of George Allcot, mariner. Educated at Arnot
Street Board School, at the age of 14 John was apprenticed to Tillotson &
Son Ltd, lithographers, and attended classes at the Liverpool Institute and
School of Art. In 1906 he worked in the Mersey tugboats and next year sailed as
a deck-boy in the barque, Invermark. He loved painting and would scrounge
ship's paint, sailcloth and handkerchiefs with which to depict the sea, ships
and life on board.
Arriving
in Sydney in 1909, Allcot signed on with the old clipper, Antiope. He worked in
coastal, island and intercolonial vessels out of Sydney before giving up the
sea in 1912. Supporting himself by painting theatre sets, he obtained
commissions for ship paintings from Sydney photographers and toured the
countryside, completing landscapes which he exhibited regularly with the Royal
Art Society of New South Wales from 1920. About this time he formed an enduring
friendship with Phyllis Zanker.
He
gained widespread recognition in the 1920s with a series of oil paintings (on
the founding of the Australian colonies) which were later acquired by the
Australasian Pioneers' Club. Other commissions followed. Allcot also worked as
an illustrator and wrote articles about the sea for the Sydney Mail. In the
1940s he painted the seas for ship-models built by the sculptor Robert Klippel.
Allcot's painting of the Cutty Sark was presented to the Duke of Edinburgh in
1954.
Painting to tried and tested conventions, with impeccable
attention to detail, Allcot used water-colour and gouache, and oils. His work
was prolific and romantic. At a time of great change in the shipping industry,
he specialized in nostalgic views of sailing ships and steamers, and found an
appreciative market of ship-owners, captains, crews and their families. More on John Charles Allcot
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