The Ship “Pomona”

Samuel Walters (British 1811–1882)
Date1858
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions24 x 36 in. (61 x 91.4 cm)
DescriptionThe most important of a group of Liverpool marine painters, Samuel Walters dominated the mid-nineteenth-century market for merchant ship portraits. American ships commanded a large presence at Liverpool’s bustling port, and Walters enjoyed brisk business with American sea captains and merchants.
Built in Boston in 1856, the ship Pomona is under sail flying the American flag in this accomplished portrait of 1858. A year later, however, the Pomona ran aground and sank off the coast of Wales on her way from New York to Liverpool. The captain, together with 423 passengers, perished in a disaster from which only nineteen crew members and three passengers survived in a single boat.
Gift of Jane F. Hawkins, 1991
Object NumberUR239