Catalog entry

Commentary

This view of Gloucester Harbor is from the western shore at Field Beach, near its eastern end with the rocks of Stage Fort at the left margin. This site can be termed a “graving beach,” having no large rocks buried in the sand which could damage hull bottoms when they were high and dry at low tide. Prior to the marine railways, this was the standard method of cleaning and repairing hull bottoms on Cape Ann and nearby harbors.

The activity in this scene is confined to mending plank seams and “pitching” (tarring) the hull bottom. The former activity has already been completed; the caulkers have packed their tool bags and left. What is here depicted is the process of “pitching the bottom” with hot pitch and a crude brush resembling a broom. In this scene, one man tends the tar pot, keeping its contents hot and easier to brush on. A second man is chopping wood to keep the fire going, while a third applies the hot pitch to the bottom planking.

This process proceeded with the tides, the work stopping when the tide rose and resuming when it ebbed. This activity was depicted by Lane in another harbor scene Gloucester Harbor, 1847 (inv. 23), while graving beaches not in use can be seen in a drawing View in Gloucester Harbor, 1850s (inv. 143) and a lithograph View of the Town of Gloucester, Mass., 1836 (inv. 437).

The two schooners in the middle ground are coasting schooners, probably anchored for a day or two to take on water before resuming their voyages. The yawl boat with passengers may be bringing friends of the captain alongside for a visit and exchange of news. Another yawl boat at the shore awaits a crew member, his gear on his back, to return to one of the schooners. The ship in the background is a merchantman in the deep-water trade, returning from Surinam or Europe. Lane’s depiction of small craft was as painstaking as that of his larger vessels. One can count the frames in the bow of the yawl boat in the left foreground.

– Erik Ronnberg

Supplementary Images

Viewpoint chart showing Lane's location when making the image