ROWLANDSON, Thomas

A Hulk at Sheerness.

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n.d., but circa London, 1800. Watercolour, with pencil, ink & pen on paper, 215 x 343 mm; laid downon card, signed lower left "Rowlandson". A delightful watercolour by Rowlandson of an unusual subject: one of the notorious "hulks" or decommissioned vessels, some of which were used to house convicts awaiting transportation; others - like this one - had become de facto housing. The watercolour is evocative of this period of English history when, despite transportation reducing the prison population, not only were the prisons still appallingly overcrowded but the living conditions of ordinary folk were often abysmal. This background is perhaps equally as important for understanding Australia's history of free settlement as well as for comprehending the significance of transportation.

Rowlandson was especially respected for his maritime paintings, a genre in which he excelled. This is a typical example of his loose and relaxed style, and his interest in documentary and social history. Roe suggests that the topsy-turvy "Heath Robinson" construction had an essential humour to it which would have appealed to the artist. It was probably painted on the spot, in Rowlandson's characteristically unhesitant style; the people and boats at lower left are sketched in pencil, but not completed in watercolour.

The hulk was a common sight on the eighteenth-century Thames and along the English coast. After their seagoing days were over, the lives of many of 'the wooden walls of old England' were considerably extended thanks to their stout oak construction. Many served as training ships or dockyard auxiliaries, although some were used as hospitals and even chapels, and others, more notoriously, were used as prisons - such as Duncan Campbell's Thames Hulks, which housed convicts. A good number also served as housing; in 1808 Brayley could state (Beauties of England and Wales, Vol. VIII) that the population of the Fortress and Dockyard at Sheerness was perhaps two thousand, 'including those who reside in the houses without the Fortress, and in the old ships of war which have been stationed on the shore as breakwaters'. The hulls of these ships 'are occupied by about seventy or eighty families, and altogether present a very singular appearance, the chimneys being raised of brick from the lower gun-decks'.

This was once in the collection of Captain Bruce S. Ingram, a collection noted for its maritime paintings, and for Rowlandson material. It is similar to a work in the Mellon Collection (Baskett and Snelgrove, Drawings of Thomas Rowlandson in the Paul Mellon Collection, London, 1977, no. 279). Ours has no inscription, although it was known by its present title whilst in the Ingram Collection; the Mellon version is entitled "One of the Old men of War made a Breakwater and fitted for Shipwrights at Sheerness".
Literature: F. Gordon Roe, 'Drawings by Rowlandson: Captain Bruce S. Ingram's Collection', pp. 85-91: 'Connoisseur', Dec. 1946 (illustrated). Provenance: Ingram Collection, sold Sothebys, London, February 1965.

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