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Oil on canvas, 61 x 91.5cm
This view of the iron barque Polestar shows her in port profile leaving Le Havre. Almost all her sails are set as she gets under way in the open sea. Various members of crew can be seen around the decks at their duties. An unusual feature is the pole compass, a wooden tripod lifting the compass away from the influence of the vessel's metal hull.
Polestar was built in Liverpool in 1858. She was mainly employed in the San Francisco and West coast of South America trades, and was stranded on Doolach Rocks in Galway Bay in March 1891 on a voyage from Peru to Galway with a cargo of guano. After refloating she was sold to A J de Souza of Para, Brazil in 1895. She was converted to a coal hulk for Booth Line (one of the main companies working between Liverpool and Brazil) in 1900.