Herzogin Cecilie

Arthur Trevor Briscoe (1873-1943) "Herzogin Cecilie" Oil on canvas Signed, lower right: "A. Briscoe/37" Canvas size: 26" x 40" Framed dimensions: 31" x 44" Arthur Trevor Briscoe was a painter in oil and watercolor and etcher of marine subjects. Educated at Shrewsbury School, Arthur Briscoe studied art at the Slade School of Art in London under Fred Brown and at Julian's in Paris. After finishing his studies he bought a boat and sailed the British and north European coasts. He painted maritime scenes in oils and watercolors and also began etching. The print publisher H. C. Dickins promoted Briscoe's etchings and they became very popular, selling out on subscription and soon making good prices at auction. The subjects of his 189 etchings, all made over a ten year period, were almost exclusively of maritime subjects, except seven which include two portraits of his friend James McBey. Arthur Briscoe also wrote on yachting subjects including Handbook on Sailing under the nom de plume of Clove Hitch. Exhibitions of his works have been held at the Royal Academy, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colour, New English Art Club, Brook Street Art Gallery, Connell & Sons Gallery, Fine Art Society, Glasgow Institute of Fine Art, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, Royal Society of British Artists, Royal Society of Painter-Etchers, and Redfern Gallery. Museums owning his works include the De Young Museum in San Francisco and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England. The ship, Herzogin Cecilie, affectionately known as the Duchess, built in Germany in 1902, was launched as a training vessel, named for Wilhelm II's prospective daughter-in-law, Herzogin Cecilie von Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Herzogin Cecilie, the Duchess, became the most celebrated sailing ship of her day. Herzogin Cecilie plied the familiar routes of the last days of sail, outward bound from Bremerhaven with mixed cargoes, and homeward bound from the Americas or Australia with grain, nitrate, or timber. In January