£300 - £400
English School (early 20th century), The wreck of the Abyssinia, on Knivestone Rocks in the Farne Islands, oil on canvas, tondo, unsigned, framed within a brass and oak ship's wheel, possibly that of the Abyssinia itself 22in. (56cm.) diamneter, the overall diameter 35in. (89cm.) * The German registered steel steamship 'The Abyssinia', originally built at Palmers Shipbuilding & Iron Co. on the Tyne in 1900, struck the Knivestone Rocks in the outer Farne Islands on 3rd September 1921, in ballast and en route to her new British owners. Within an hour the 138 metre long vessel had toppled and sunk, although no lives were lost.
*Condition: The surface of the canvas is a little unevenly stretched and also shows a few small contact indentations. Uneven craquelure visible across the surface, most notably to the lighter areas of lower sky. There are scattered retouches and some strengthening to detail visible under UV, the retouching concentrated most notably to craquelure around the canvas margins. The lower hull, to the right of the propellor, shows a larger area of repainting. The ship's wheel has a repaired break to the upper leather-bound handle and some chipped losses around screw/nail holes to the reverse. There are several old breaks to the brass mount.
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