The Great 1866 China Clipper Tea Race at Bonhams

Thursday, 03 August 2006 13:26

London - Bonhams next Marine Sale on 12^th September at New Bond Street includes one of the most collectable marine pictures by the British artist Montague Dawson (1895-1973).

Dawson’s lifelong fascination with the beauty of the legendary tea clippers which dominated the China Tea trade for a decade and more, led him to paint the two most famous examples of the vessels - 'Ariel' and 'Taeping' - on several occasions.

The offered oil on canvas picture, estimated to sell for £150,000 to £200,000, depicts 'Ariel' and 'Taeping' speeding along in the Great Tea Race of 1866.  By the mid-1860s, the clippers' annual homeward passage with the new season's tea crop had become a race and the contest fought out in 1866 became the most famous of them all.

On this occasion, 'Taeping' docked in London first, just 26 minutes before 'Ariel'.  It was a breathtaking finish to the 99-day dash across the world and the closest result possible to a dead heat. 

The painting offered in the forthcoming Bonhams Marine Sale is a classic starboard view of the two vessels, neck-and-neck, as they hurtle up the English Channel on the final day of the 1866 Race.

Visit Bonhams at : http://www.bonhams.com