John Allcot, (1888 - 1973)
S.S. Dorrigo, 1922
Watercolour
20 x 30.5 cm
Private collection
SS Dorrigo was a cargo and passenger steam ship. It was built under the name of Saint Francois by the Smiths Dock Company at the South Bank in Middlesbrough on the River Tees in Northeast England for the Compagnie Navale de l'Océanie for the Pacific Island postal and general trade service, for which it sailed the waters of the Pacific from 1914 to 1921. The ship suffered minor damage during the First World War during the Bombardment of Papeete, prior to coming into the hands of the Langley Bros who placed it in the Sydney to Coffs Harbour route from 1922 to 1925. Upon the demise of the Langley Bros shipping firm in 1925 the vessel came into the service of John Burke and Co and was used for the Northern Queensland runs prior to its loss on 4 April 1926. More on SS Dorrigo
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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