Joseph Heard

Joseph Heard (British, 1799-1859) The inward bound Liverpool barque John Tomkinson portrayed in two views 'boarding her pilot' in the River Mersey's Formby Channel 1840 signed and indistinctly dated 'Jos Heard/1840' (lower left) oil on canvas 72 x 92cm (28 3/8 x 36 1/4in). In typical fashion Heard conveys his narrative with commendable brevity; the unmistakeable outline of the Formby Light Vessel under the barque's bowsprit denoting its location off Formby Point only about seven miles north of Liverpool and the 'pilot jack' at the fore masthead indicating a request for a pilot. That the request has been made so late suggests a bold master and one familiar with the many hazards of the Liverpool approaches. The artist continues his narrative on the left of the painting where the barque is seen in stern view under reduced sail and 'hove to' having changed tack, to board her pilot from the approaching #5 pilot sloop Isaac. Built in 1805 and 50 tons register the latter was sold out of service in 1843. The barque John Tomkinson , 260 tons, was built at Kirkcudbright in 1840 for Rimmer & Co. of Liverpool her voyages including Hobart and the West Indies; her last entry in Lloyd's Registers being for 1856. The barque's identity is beyond doubt, as testified by the triangular red name pendant at her main masthead and corroborated by her male figurehead. What is puzzling at first sight is the the unusual flag hoist at her mizzen masthead; the four lower flags reading 2,9,6,4 in Marryat's Code. Under the upper chequered "rendezvous flag" as portrayed, this hoist would normally indicate a geographical item or location- in this instance "Fair Isle" - apparently quite irrelevant However the mystery was eventually solved on recalling that by 1840 the escalating number of ship names meant that Marryat had exhausted the capacity of his "Ship Names" section, denoted by a triangular pennant. Pending a complete revision of this section and purely as a temporary solution in the seventh edition of 1840, this excess of ship names was stored as a supplement at the end of the adjacent rendezvous section and therefore temporally housed under the chequered flag instead of its 'proper' triangular pennant. Such proved to be the case on acquiring a copy of the extremely rare 1840 7th edition Marryat Code which revealed the entry "2,9,6,4, John Tomkinson " In the later editions following the major reorganisation it appears as 6,2,9,5 under the original pendant (now the 'first triangular pendant) . Familiarity with such detail is evidence of Heard's attention to minutiae. We are grateful to Dr Sam Davidson for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.

Back to catalogue Place Bid or Track Lot Lot No: 3036 Property of various owners Joseph Heard (British, 1799-1859) The full-rigged 'James Ray' signed and dated 'Jos. Heard 1834' (lower left) oil on canvas 27 3/4 x 40in Estimate: US$3,000 - 5,000 View Condition Report Contact the Specialist to discuss this lot or selling in a future sale Email: Christine Skinner (Larson) Tel: +1 415 503 3479 To subscribe to or order a Printed Catalogue quote ref: 19678 Tel: +1 800 223 2854 ext 3550

Joseph Heard (British, 1799-1859) The full-rigged William Fisher sailing in company with the barque Nithsdale , each vessel sporting the house flag of Martin & Co. of Dumfries oil on canvas 55.9 x 87.5cm (22 x 34 7/16in). The full-rigged William Fisher was built in Liverpool for Darbyshire & Co. of the same city in 1844. Registered at 364 tons gross (327 net) and measuring 104 feet in length with a 26 foot beam, her maiden voyage was to Quebec and thereafter she journeyed to Bahia and also Valparaiso. Sold to Martin & Co. of Dumfries in 1852, at which time she was put into the Ceylon trade, she later reverted to South American sailings until sold to new owners in Maryport in 1866. Throughout the 1870s she was mostly employed in the West Indian trade and was laid up for the last time in 1885. The barque Nithsdale was custom-built for Martins at Sunderland in 1855, the company's largest vessel to date. Registered at 382 tons and measuring 119 feet in length with a 27 foot beam, she traded exclusively to South America until sold to Mannings of London in 1868 at which time she transferred into the West Indian trade. On 20th March 1875 she left Calcutta after a sole voyage to the Indian sub-continent but disappeared at sea and was never heard of again. Given that both vessels in the work offered here are flying the Martin's house flag, this dates the painting to the last four years of the artist's life (1855-59).

Joseph Heard (British, 1799-1859) The Merchant brig Rimac in two positions off Cape Horn, with another of Brocklebank's brigs in view signed 'J. Heard' and dated 1854 (lower left) oil on canvas 63 x 90.5cm (24 3/4 x 35 5/8in). Rimac , identified from her masthead Watson’s Code flags for 268 (= Rimac ), was one of a class of twenty-one ‘standard’ wooden brigs built for Brocklebanks' of Liverpool between 1822 and 1845. Launched from Brocklebank’s own yard at Whitehaven in 1834, she was registered at 215 tons and measured 90 feet in length with a 23 foot beam. Ordered specifically for the company’s Peru route, she spent much of her life sailing to the many ports on the western coast of South America and ‘rounded the Horn’ no less than fifty-six times, a remarkable achievement for any sailing vessel, particularly a tiny brig. After a long and trouble-free career, she was inbound for Dundee with a cargo of guano on 28th February 1862 when she was driven aground near Kilrush, in the south-west of Ireland. Although successfully refloated, she had suffered some hull damage and, perhaps for this reason, Brocklebanks' sold her to Nuttall & Co. of Liverpool in 1864. Ten years later, on 12th December 1874, by which date she was owned by W. Hayes of Blythe, she was wrecked near North Somercotes, south of Grimsby.

Joseph Heard (1799-1859) The barque Humphrey Nelson flying her recognition flags as she passes a three-masted merchantman off a mid-ocean island signed and dated 'Jo Heard 1857' (lower left) oil on canvas 25 x 33 in. (63.5 x 83.8 cm.) The wooden barque Humphrey Nelson was built at Dundee in 1855 for Nelson & Co. of Maryport. Registered at 476 tons and measuring 134 feet in length with a 25 foot beam, she began her career sailing out of Liverpool under the command of her owner Captain P. Nelson. Within ten years however, she was trading out of London to China under Captain Chellew but disappears from record in the early 1870s.