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'Teignmouth Life Boat. Skyscraper Jack before he was upset - 15th January 1852'
Inscribed ‘Teignmouth Life Boat Skyscraper Jack, before he was upset – 15th January 1852’ in the bottom left, this watercolour depicts eight figures in a lifeboat at sea. The boat’s sail is up and seems to be tipping to port. One figure steers the boat on the left while two men draw in water and another sits on the edge of the boat beside them. There is a jetty in the left distance and two vessels are at sea on the right with green hills in the background.
In October 1850, after a spate of fatal lifeboat incidents, the Duke of Northumberland offered a prize of 100 guineas for the best model lifeboat design. Teignmouth Lifeboat Station, which opened in 1851, planned a trial of their lifeboat model on a stormy morning at sea. Having previously failed to capsize the boat in calm waters, the crew set the sails and successfully capsized the boat with their collective physical force. As depicted in PAG3482, the next watercolour in this sketchbook, the boat’s entire broadside tipped, throwing out some of the crew who were equipped with life jackets. The boat righted at once but, after scoring 86 of a possible 100 points, was not awarded the prize.
This drawing is part of an album containing thirty-six drawings (PAG3476–PAG3511) by Harry Edmund Edgell (1809–1876), dated between 1851 and 1852. During this time, Edgell was living in Torquay, Devon, with his wife Caroline, with whom he had a daughter in June 1852. Edgell entered the Royal Naval College in 1821 and was involved in forcing the passage of the Bocca Tigris in China while serving as Lieutenant on HMS ‘Imogene’ in the 1830s. He became Captain in 1846 and commanded HMS ‘Siren’, in which he assisted in the removal of the sculptured remains of the Tomb of Mausolus (Canning Marbles) from Bodrum Castle, Asia Minor (now Türkiye), to the British Museum. After returning from the Mediterranean in 1847, Edgell did not serve on board a ship again until 1855. This sketchbook primarily contains landscapes and coastal scenes depicting everyday life in and around Devon. Some of the later pages depict places in China and other locations in Asia, suggesting Edgell may have used this album outside of the dates recorded. The final page contains a note in Edgell’s hand, titled ‘India’, recording the details of six ships involved in the Second Anglo-Burmese War, which began in April 1852.
In October 1850, after a spate of fatal lifeboat incidents, the Duke of Northumberland offered a prize of 100 guineas for the best model lifeboat design. Teignmouth Lifeboat Station, which opened in 1851, planned a trial of their lifeboat model on a stormy morning at sea. Having previously failed to capsize the boat in calm waters, the crew set the sails and successfully capsized the boat with their collective physical force. As depicted in PAG3482, the next watercolour in this sketchbook, the boat’s entire broadside tipped, throwing out some of the crew who were equipped with life jackets. The boat righted at once but, after scoring 86 of a possible 100 points, was not awarded the prize.
This drawing is part of an album containing thirty-six drawings (PAG3476–PAG3511) by Harry Edmund Edgell (1809–1876), dated between 1851 and 1852. During this time, Edgell was living in Torquay, Devon, with his wife Caroline, with whom he had a daughter in June 1852. Edgell entered the Royal Naval College in 1821 and was involved in forcing the passage of the Bocca Tigris in China while serving as Lieutenant on HMS ‘Imogene’ in the 1830s. He became Captain in 1846 and commanded HMS ‘Siren’, in which he assisted in the removal of the sculptured remains of the Tomb of Mausolus (Canning Marbles) from Bodrum Castle, Asia Minor (now Türkiye), to the British Museum. After returning from the Mediterranean in 1847, Edgell did not serve on board a ship again until 1855. This sketchbook primarily contains landscapes and coastal scenes depicting everyday life in and around Devon. Some of the later pages depict places in China and other locations in Asia, suggesting Edgell may have used this album outside of the dates recorded. The final page contains a note in Edgell’s hand, titled ‘India’, recording the details of six ships involved in the Second Anglo-Burmese War, which began in April 1852.
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