Maritime Oil on Board - Abraham Hulk the Younger

Abraham Hulk the Younger

(British, 1851–1922)

Oil on Board

21 x 16.5 cm board

29 x 24.5 cm frame

This small yet detailed oil painting by Abraham Hulk Jnr depicts a Turkish steam ship, possibly the Ertugrul, a famed frigate that was fitted with steam engines in Britain in 1865. The Ertugul was shipwrecked on a coral reef of the coast of Japan in 1890 after encountering a strong typhoon. There was a great loss of life, but the rescue attempts by the Japanese navy secured a long-lasting friendship between the two nations.

If this is indeed the Ertugul and Hulk painted the ship upon her visit to Portsmouth, that would make Hulk 14 when he painted this small painting, not unlikely as he was taught by his illustrious father who was a famed naval artist, but possibly he relied on newspaper reports of the ships sinking in 1890.