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Fitz Henry Lane
HISTORICAL ARCHIVE • CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ • EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE
An online project under the direction of the CAPE ANN MUSEUM
An online project under the direction of the CAPE ANN MUSEUM
Catalog entry
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inv. 82
Burning of the Packet Ship "Boston"
1830 Watercolor 19 x 26 3/4 in. (48.3 x 68 cm) No inscription found
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Provenance (Information known to date; research ongoing.)
the Artist, Gloucester, Mass.
Elias Davis Knight, Gloucester, Mass.
Joseph L. Stevens, Jr., Gloucester, Mass., 1869 (by gift)
Samuel H. Mansfield, Gloucester, Mass.
Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester, Mass., 1924
Exhibition History
DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts, Fitz Hugh Lane: The First Major Exhibition, March 20–April 17, 1966., no. 58.
Traveled to: Colby College Art Museum, Waterville, Maine, 30–6, 1966.
Traveled to: Colby College Art Museum, Waterville, Maine, 30–6, 1966.
Published References
Brooks, Alfred Mansfield. "The Packet Ship 'Boston' of Gloucester." Essex Institute Historical Collections LXXIX (1943). ⇒ includes 
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Wilmerding, John. Fitz Hugh Lane, 1804–1865: American Marine Painter. Salem, MA: The Essex Institute, 1964., fig. 4, p. 24.
The American Neptune, Pictorial Supplement VII: A Selection of Marine Paintings by Fitz Hugh Lane, 1804–1865. Salem, MA: The American Neptune, 1965., pl. I, no. 186. ⇒ includes text
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Wilmerding, John. Fitz Hugh Lane: The First Major Exhibition. Lincoln, MA: De Cordova Museum; in association with Colby College Art Museum, 1966., no. 58. ⇒ includes text
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Hoffman, Katherine. "The Art of Fitz Hugh Lane." Essex Institute Historical Collections 119 (1983)., p. 29.
Wilmerding, John. Paintings by Fitz Hugh Lane. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art; in association with Harry N. Abrams, 1988., p. 9.
Worley, Sharon. "Fitz Hugh Lane and the Legacy of the Codfish Aristocracy." Historical Journal of Massachusetts 32, no. 1 (Winter 2004)., p. 84. ⇒ includes text
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Wilmerding, John. Fitz Henry Lane. Gloucester, MA: Cape Ann Historical Association, 2005. Reprint of Fitz Hugh Lane, by John Wilmerding. New York: Praeger, 1971. Includes new information regarding the artist's name., ill. 1, text pp. 18-19.
Craig, James. Fitz H. Lane: An Artist's Voyage through Nineteenth-Century America. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2006., pl. 2, text, pp. 32-33.
Wilmderding, John. "The Identities of Mr. Nathaniel Rogers." Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors 97, no. 20 (Winter 2008). Includes excerpts from Fitz Henry Lane and Mary Blood Mellen: Old Mysteries and New Discoveries, by John Wilmerding. New York: Spanierman Gallery, 2007., p. 53. ⇒ includes text
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H. Travers Newton, Jr. "Fitz Henry Lane's Series Paintings of 'Brace's Rock': Meaning and Technique." Terra Foundation for American Art. Unpublished report., Burning of the Packet Ship "Boston". ⇒ includes text
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Barnhill, Trafton. Drawn from Nature & on Stone: the Lithographs of Fitz Henry Lane. Gloucester, MA: Cape Ann Museum, 2017., fig. 4, text, p. 10, Burning of the Packet Ship "Boston". ⇒ includes text
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Commentary
The Burning of the Packet Ship "Boston" is the earliest-known painting by Fitz Henry Lane and a rare and dramatic example of his work in watercolor. Done in 1830, when Lane was in his midtwenties, the painting reflects the efforts of an untrained but ambitious artist. The waves, the clouds, and the billows of smoke are all highly stylized; John Wilmerding has noted that the work’s “decorative charm recalls Chinese scroll paintings or Japanese prints.” (1)
While the composition is rich in detail, from the damaged standing rigging lying slack against the side of the vessel to the lifeboats full of survivors just visible in the foreground, the repletion of colors and shapes gives the work an overall sense of flatness. For all its naïveté, however, the work foreshadows the greatness Lane would soon achieve.
The ship "Boston" was built in Medford, Massachusetts, and used in the packet trade between Charleston, South Carolina, and Liverpool, England. In the spring of 1830, while under the command of Captain Harvey Coffin McKay (1787–1869) of Gloucester and carrying a load of cotton and passengers, the vessel was struck by lightning and eventually sank. The first mate on the ship was Elias Davis Knight (1804–1884) also of Gloucester. All of the passengers except one survived, and Knight was able to salvage the ship’s log and water bucket before the vessel sank. Fitz Henry Lane was not on the "Boston" at the time disaster struck. Rather, he did this painting using a sketch done by artist Samuel S. Osgood (1808–1885), who was on board. He also had an oral description of the event provided by the first mate.
In 1869, Elias Davis Knight gave this watercolor to Lane’s close friend Joseph L. Stevens, Jr. Whether Knight had had the work in his possession since its creation remains unknown. Harvey Coffin McKay, captain of the "Boston," is known to have owned examples of Lane’s work; in his will, drawn up shortly before his death in 1869, McKay noted the following: "…to Mr. Epes Sargent, Junr. I give and bequeath all my paintings and more especially the paintings executed by Mr. Fitz Henry Lane."
– Martha Oaks
(1) John Wilmerding, Fitz Henry Lane. (Praeger Publishers, Inc., 1971; repr., Gloucester Cape Ann Historical Association, 2005), 19.