British (Active 1880-1910)

This is a nice group of watercolors taken from a series of small sketchbooks which I purchased indirectly from the family of Captain Charles Hope who was in the Royal Navy during the latter part of the 1890’s and continued in service into the early 1900’s. He apparently came from a long line of Naval Captains in the borders region of Scotland as a Captain Charles Hope was one of the officers of Nelson’s ship, HMS Victory for a short period of time in 1787, another was Captain of the Dublin for the Royal Navy in 1835 and the Thalia in 1841. This second Charles Hope, was also perhaps an officer on the HMS Spy that visited Pitcairn Island in 1847 and the recipient of a letter from the local magistrate, Charles Christian in that same year. The Captain who created these Sketchbooks was probably the third in this line and was a passenger on the SS Plassy for her maiden voyage on January 29, 1901 from London to Shanghai. The SS Plassy was owned by the P & O Company and operated as a Passenger/Cargo Liner as well as Troopship. In fact, after her maiden voyage, she was almost exclusively a Troop and Hospital Ship, serving in the Boer War and World War I. The Plassy was a 450 foot, 6500 ton, Steamship carrying around 200 passengers. As this first voyage was the only occasion that she went to Shanghai, and with obvious watercolors and sketches of Chinese people in the books, I have to assume that Captain Hope was probably taking the vessel to a commission in the Far East. He was also travelling with a Miss Hope, so perhaps his daughter went on the voyage as well. It is obliquely possible that he was an officer on the vessel, but as there were quite a few other Royal Navy officers on board, it is more than likely that they were going to various appointments along the route.  The watercolours here show various people from Mediterranean Soldiers to an Arab Gentleman, Ladies in their Saris, Soldiers from India, and probably Opium Smoking in Shanghai, China!!

I would like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of Mr. Stephen Rabson who is the Historian and Archivist for the P & O Company and who kindly provided me with information on the SS Plassy.

These are all quite lovely sketches of various ethnic peoples from the Mediterranean to the Orient.  They are all in fine condition with an occasional smudge in the outer areas and are all painted on JWhatman's paper from a sketch book.  Each is Pencil and Watercolor on Paper sized 5 x 7 inches.

Price:  $65.00 for Each