The Leguan by William John Huggins (1781-1845). Oil on canvas, 52.5 x 81.5 cm. Courtesy of Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre A111 and Art UK. Click on image to enlarge it.
As the Victorian age dawned so came the end of the East Indiamen; those armed merchant vessels which shuttled between England, India and China throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and into the early nineteenth. You often see them in prints of London docks, or Cape Town, Bombay, Madras and particularly of Calcutta, Canton and Whampoa in the Pearl River. Several artists specialised in them notably Robert Dodd and William John Huggins. They were attractive ships often mistaken for Royal Navy frigates.
Related Material Including Other East East Indiamen
- The Twilight of the East Indiamen
- The East Indiaman “Saint Vincent” Saving the Crew of the East Indiaman “Ganges”, 29 May 1807
- The East Indiaman 'Herefordshire'
- The East Indiaman 'Trafalgar'
Last modified 12 August 2020