?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
DESIGNER UNKNOWN
CUNARD [SLAVONIA] / NEW YORK MEDITERRANEAN. Circa 1905.
39 3/4x25 inches, 101x63 1/2 cm. Wm. Strain & Sons, Belfast. Condition A / A-: minor creases and restoration at edges. Mounted on Japan.
Built in 1902 for the British India Line as the Yamuna, the ship was bought by the Cunard Line and renamed RMS Slavonia in 1903. The liner was wrecked and sank off the Azores on June 10th, 1909, with no fatalities. It was the first ship to ever send an "S.O.S." distress message by Morse code. Two German ships, North German Lloyd's Prinzess Irene and Hamburg America's Batavia were able to safely rescue all 410 passengers. This exceptional nocturnal image stands out not only for the painterly way in which the subject is presented but also the unusual positioning of the ship. Ocean liner posters most often portray their vessels in 3/4 profile or profile. Here, the unknown artist presents the ship slightly askew from head on.
![DESIGNER UNKNOWN. CUNARD [SLAVONIA] / NEW YORK MEDITERRANEAN. Circa 1905. 39¾x25 inches, 101x63½ cm. Wm. Strain & Sons, Belfast.](https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/full//558\794558.jpg)
