a good pierhead painting of the steam ship s.s. agenoria of Hartlepool entering the bay of naples in 1888 by luigi roberto.
body colour on paper. framed behind glass in a period burr maple frame.
painting size 620mm x 415mm
overall size 720mm x 515mm
Ever since there have been ships there have been ship paintings. Many were commissioned with pride by builders, owners or crew. In the middle of the 18th century to meet increasing demand, ship portraitists known as pierhead artists emerged. pierhead artist or painter is the term usually given to a self taught artist who specialised in painting ship portraits for the men and women who sailed them, captain and crew. the artist would seek a commission from a ship that would visit the artists home port, and would often have to finish the painting before the vessel departed. The artist would have to comply with the expectations of his clientele, so pierhead ship portraits are almost universally painted from a broadside view with all sails set. the portraits are exact and tehnically accurate in every detail, every reef point on the sails, every ratline, each block and tackle is placed in a manner that the customer would expect to see in a representation of his ship of which he was justly proud, a painting that could be displayed above the fireplace in a position of honour. The artist would only use a little poetic freedom when it came to the flags and pennants which are nearly always flying perfectly in a direction contrary to the wind.
today pierhead paintings are being sought out and collected for their decorative value as the folk art of an industrial seafaring society. they are also equally important as a historical record, very often the painting is unique in being the only pictorial record of a ship. as is likely with this portrait of the s.s. agenoria.
Luigi Roberto ( 1845 - 1910 ) was an italian pierhead artist, he was resident in naples and was active in the second half of the 19th century. luigi roberto worked from a studio in via nueve mercato in naples and continued painting until the 1890's, as in this painting he would usually include a smoking vesuvius in the background and title his work in white with a cursive script.
s.s. agenoria was a steam cargo ship built in 1883 by irvines ship building and dry dock company ltd. west hartlepool and was owned by rickinson sons & co. west hartlepool.
