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Catalog entry

inv. 99
View from Rocky Neck in Gloucester Harbor
1850s
Graphite on paper (3 sheets)
9 1/4 x 31 3/4 in. (23.5 x 80.6 cm)
Inscribed lower center (in pencil): View from Rocky Neck in Gloucester Harbor / F.H. Lane / del.

Commentary

From the middle point of Rocky Neck’s western shore, Lane sketched a view of Gloucester’s Outer Harbor, taking in its western shore from the Cut (junction with the Annisquam River) to Norman’s Woe Rock. The direction of view is slightly south of due west, with the right (northern) half dominated by Stage Fort and Western Harbor to the Cut. The left (southern) half includes Fresh Water Cove and Mussel Point to Norman’s Woe Rock, with West Gloucester’s southern end looming over Ten Pound Island.

No painting based on this sketch has so far come to light. Its similarity in drawing style and detail to View from Rocky Neck, Gloucester, 1850s (inv. 137) suggests that both drawings were made within a short time frame. This further suggests a potential client like Horatio G. Sanford, who purchased a painting derived from the latter drawing. Whatever the circumstances, it is evident that Lane made an effort to depict the lithology of Rocky Neck that was prodigious, even by his standards.

–Erik Ronnberg

Supplementary Images

Viewpoint map for Inv. 99
Photo: © U.S. Coast Survey, NOAA Historic Collection

Provenance (Information known to date; research ongoing.)

the Artist, Gloucester, Mass.
Joseph L. Stevens, Jr., Gloucester, Mass.
Samuel H. Mansfield, Gloucester, Mass.
Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester, Mass., 1927

Marks & Labels

Marks: Inscribed upper left (in red ink): 81 [numbering system used by curator A. M. Brooks upon Samuel H. Mansfield's donation of the drawings to the Cape Ann Museum]

Exhibition History

No known exhibitions.

Published References

Paintings and Drawings by Fitz Hugh Lane. Gloucester, MA: Cape Ann Historical Association, 1974., fig. 2.

Related historical materials

Cape Ann Locales
Vessel Types
Flags, Lighthouses, & Navigation Aids
Citation: "View from Rocky Neck in Gloucester Harbor, 1850s (inv. 99)." Fitz Henry Lane Online. Cape Ann Museum. http://fitzhenrylaneonline.org/catalog/entry.php?id=99 (accessed March 28, 2024).
Record last updated May 19, 2017. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
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