19th Century Oil on Panel of the steam ship LA PLATA owned by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company.
Inscribed on the reverse “The Royal mail steam-ship “La Plata” 1876″ Size without frame : 23 x 30 cm.
This is a superb painting of this paddle steam ship in full sale in open sea. The painting shows intricate details of a piece of maritime history. It is framed in its original oak frame. Both frame and painting are in very good condition.
The ‘La Plata’ steamship, was a large vessel with twin funnels. It was commissioned in 1852 as part of the fleet belonging to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. The RMSPC, founded in 1839 by Scot James MacQueen, ran tours and mail to various destinations in the Caribbean and South America, and by 1927, was the largest shipping group in the world. Following the Virgin Islands earthquake in 1867, La Plata was swamped by a tsunami whilst off the coast of Water Island, near St. Thomas and was almost thrown on to the beach. Most of the crew were killed but the ship survived. On 29 November 1874, La Plata, chartered by Siemens Brothers Ltd. from W.T. Henley’s Telegraph Works Co. to lay cable between Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Chuy, Uruguay to complete work after CS Gomos sunk, foundered in the Bay of Biscay with loss of 58 crew.
