Schooner

Schooner from the 19th century depicts an American schooner—the type of sailing vessel that was the workhorse of American coastal commerce in the 19th century. Schooner portraits were a popular form of American marine painting in the 19th century, commissioned by ship owners and captains who wanted a visual record of their vessels. The anonymous painter of this schooner portrait follows the conventions of the genre—the vessel shown broadside with sails set, often with a pilot boat or other coastal vessel in the background—that distinguish American ship portraiture from the more atmospheric marine painting of the European tradition.

Schooner portraits are important in the history of American marine painting because they record the vessels that were the workhorses of American coastal commerce in the 19th century. The genre of schooner portraiture satisfied the demand of ship owners and captains for visual records of their vessels, and the conventions of the genre—broadside view, sails set, coastal background—distinguish American ship portraiture from the more atmospheric marine painting of the European tradition.

Schooner is American marine portraiture: a coastal schooner shown broadside with sails set, following the conventions of ship portraiture that American owners and captains commissioned to record their vessels. The 19th century painting records the type of sailing vessel that was the workhorse of American coastal commerce in the period.