NANTUCKET, MA: The Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) is delighted to announce that two remarkable oil-on-canvas paintings—Ship Spermo Trying with Boats among Whales on California, 1821 and Spermo Cutting in Whales on Japan, 1822 painted by Nantucket whaler-artist John Fisher—were purchased by the Friends of the Nantucket Historical Association on Saturday, August 16, at the Northeast Auctions sale.
Both paintings are oversized 18 ½” x 24 ½” canvases and depict the Nantucket whaler Spermo cutting in whales on the Japan grounds and whaling off the California coast. Ben Simons, NHA Robyn and John Davis Chief Curator, was present at the auction and bid on behalf of the Friends. “These unique depictions of active whaling scenes by a self-taught Nantucket artist, who was also a whaling master, are not only island treasures, but important American marine paintings,” said Simons. “The paintings are first-class whaling portraits, surely among the earliest and liveliest of their genre. We are thrilled that they have returned to Nantucket after all these years.”
David Ross, president of the Friends of the Nantucket Historical Association, said, “It’s wonderful to have these extraordinary paintings back on Nantucket where they belong. The Friends are pleased to be able to contribute such important objects to the NHA permanent collection.”
The Spermo sailed out of Nantucket on its sole whaling voyage from 1820 to 1823, in consort with the General Jackson and the Pacific. Nantucket whaling captain John Fisher, who helmed the General Jackson, created six known whaling canvases, of which two small paintings of the Pacific are already in the NHA’s collection; a large canvas showing the Spermo in a storm is in the Nantucket Atheneum’s collection. For twenty-some years the two paintings purchased have been in the well-known J. Welles Henderson collection, one of the most illustrious American private collections of marine art and artifacts. The paintings are said to have been owned originally by Alexander Starbuck.
Simons believes that these works are in a league of their own for early depictions of American whaling, and Nantucket whaling in particular, by a known Nantucket artist, with an excellent, highly dramatic style (whaling scenes from the 1820s are rare). The Friends also hired Lydia Vagts, a paintings conservator formerly of the MFA in Boston, to provide a condition report prior to the auction. The gifts are currently being cataloged.
Established in 1986, the Friends of the Nantucket Historical Association seek significant acquisitions for the collections of the NHA and provide funds necessary to make such acquisitions. The organization has also supported such projects as the construction of the NHA’s Gosnold Center, the collection-storage facility; the conservation of paintings and other artifacts; and restoration of the parlor in the Hadwen House. The gracious assistance of the Friends has greatly strengthened the preservation and acquisition efforts of the NHA.
NHA executive director Bill Tramposch said, “The NHA oversees the Whaling Museum and twenty-two historic properties that tell the history of this remarkable island. We could consider the Spermo paintings our twenty-third and twenty-fourth property, as they serve as vivid reminders that the Nantucket whaleships, especially these early ones, were ‘home’ to many Nantucketers. We are extremely grateful to the Friends for their contributions.”
