Anthony D Blake New Zealand, b. 1951
The 'Flying Fish' and 'John Gilpin' meet at Cape Horn 1852, 1988
Oil on canvas
95 x 120 cm (including frame)
75 x 100 cm (excluding frame)
75 x 100 cm (excluding frame)
Signed & dated verso 1988
Further images
The 1852 race between the clipper Flying Fish and the John Gilpin was emblematic of the fierce rivalry that defined the California trade at the height of the Gold Rush....
The 1852 race between the clipper Flying Fish and the John Gilpin was emblematic of the fierce rivalry that defined the California trade at the height of the Gold Rush. Both vessels were newly built American clippers, designed for maximum speed, and their reported contest captured public attention as a test of the latest advances in hull design, sail plans, and seamanship. Contemporary shipping news treated such races with enthusiasm, using them to measure prestige as much as performance, and the encounter was remembered as a demonstration of the extraordinary pace demanded by the westward rush for gold, where days saved at sea could mean fortunes gained or lost.