Montague Dawson R.S.M.A., F.R.S.A.

The Estate of Harry Ford Ogden, Maryland

Unlined. Under UV: Finely applied dots of inpainting throughout the sky and in horizontal area at at upper right edge.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Clippers were the fastest sailing ships at sea through the 1850s.  Crisscrossing the world’s oceans, they followed the trade routes between the United Kingdom and its eastern colonies as well as the trans-Atlantic trade routes between New York and San Francisco. Among these yacht-like vessels, Flying Cloud was the most celebrated. Built for the firm Enoch Train  & Co., by Donald McKay of East Boston in 1851, at 225ft long, 40ft 8 in. broad  she was the largest merchant sailing ship at sea, and from her maiden voyage, was also among the fastest. Flying Cloud sailed between New York and San Francisco, rounding Cape Horn, reducing the trip’s average length of 120 days to eighty nine days and twenty one hours. In 1854, she beat her own record by thirteen hours, arriving in San Francisco to cheering crowds.  Flying Cloud’s speed was essential during America’s gold rush and she, like many clippers, was in high demand to carry precious cargo.  As valuable as gold was, tea was perhaps even more prized, and soon after Flying Cloud’s record-breaking run, she was reprovisioned for the China trade runs. On August 7, 1854, heavy with one million dollars of tea, she struck a coral reef in the South China Sea.  Rather than take time to dock and repair, Flying Cloud’s crew battled the incoming water from the rip in the hull with around-the-clock pumping, bringing her safely back to New York on November 24^th.  Throughout these adventures, Flying Cloud was captained by the tenacious Josiah P. Cressy, and his wife Eleanor was her navigator (As a woman, her profession was remarkable for its time; she learned to sail from her father in the waters off Marblehead, Massachusetts). Little could stop Captain Cressy in his quest for speed, and Dawson captures his aptly-named vessel, set against a blue sky, her full white sails overlapping the clouds as she flies across the horizon of white-capped, glittering waves.