A yacht once owned by Theodore Meyers of New York, EMILY, is portrayed in a working narrative portrait by New York’s best, James Edward Buttersworth. The element overhead of a partially heavy and dark sky with cloud-breaks of blue is as much a signature of J.E. Buttersworth’s as is his name, present in the lower right on this fine canvas of the steam driven schooner yacht.

According the published record in the book J.E. Buttersworth, 19th Century Marine Painter by Rudolph Schaefer, EMILY was built in 1869 by J. Lennox of Brooklyn. The sleek cruising vessel with a single screw propulsion and a complement of Baltimore Clipper inspired sails measured 82'LWL x 16'B x 4'6”D. It is known that at least two versions of this painting exist, with another smaller version in oil on board exists in the collection of the Washington County Museum of Fine Art in Haggerstown, Maryland. It is believed more than coincidence that several ship captains with the Meyers surnames sailed out of New York on Baltimore registered ships, including the Gold Rush Era Clipper FLORA TEMPLE in 1855.

The headland is distant, and four pure sailing schooner draw the eye before the steamship, with a striking clarity and vivid contrast of white against the atmosphere, with miniature strikes of radiant color of details. Buttersworth’s yacht portraiture is among the best ever painted, and his attention to the exacting detail of the steam-sail yacht shows his mastery well. The vessel and artwork would both be prized possessions.

Provenance: Honorable Judge Paul H. Buchanan, Indianapolis, Indiana Collection.

Illustrated: J.E. Buttersworth, 19th Century Marine Painter by Rudolph Schaefer, Page 189.