1117

Oil Painting, "The Monitor and Merrimack: The First Fight Between Ironclads"

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:750.00 USD Estimated At:1,500.00 - 3,000.00 USD
Oil Painting,  The Monitor and Merrimack: The First Fight Between Ironclads
Buyer's Premium is 20.5% by credit card, reduced to 18% if payment is made by cash, check or wire transfer. Contact Rock Island Auction Company to complete your registration with the auction house.
Oil Painting, "The Monitor and Merrimack: The First Fight Between Ironclads"

Measuring 10 inches tall and 21 1/2 inches wide, and set into a 2 1/4 inch thick golden veneer frame, this is an oil painting depicting the events of the Battle of Hampton Roads, the first ironclad versus ironclad naval battle in history. Dominating the center of the painting are the ironclads themselves, with the cumulative smoke of the cannons and the boilers obscuring the majority of the background, save another steam vessel in the distance on the left and a sailing ship on the right edge. On the right, closer to the foreground, is the USS Monitor; derided as a "Yankee cheese box on a raft" by some, the Monitor was in many ways ahead of it's time, in particular with the design decision to ditch the conventional "broadside" gun arrangement in favor of heavy turret-mounted weaponry, which would become the de-facto standard 'big stick' of the world's navies until the aircraft carrier made it's ascent. To the left, further back and framed by ominous black smoke, is the CSS Virginia; built and armed nearly in it's entirety with resources the Union failed to destroy when evacuating the Gosport Navy Yard, the Confederacy's "floating barn roof" started as the USS Merrimack, torched to the waterline but with it's steam engines and some armament intact, rebuilt into an ironclad steam ram in Gosport's undamaged graving dock. Steaming out of Gosport with a small Confederate fleet at it's back, Virginia, commanded by Commodore Franklin Buchanan, set to work on March 8, 1862, shooting up a number of Union blockade vessels before retiring for the evening. With Buchanan injured, his second in command, Lieutenant Catesby ap Roger Jones (a former Merrimack officer who went Confederate when Secession was declared) took over. That night, the still-incomplete Monitor, commanded by Lieutenant John Worden, was rushed down to the area, and on the 9th they proceeded to shoot it out first thing in the morning. Neither ship had the firepower to inflict a decisive 'kill shot' on the other, causing the fight to degenerate into a multi-hour slugfest with an indecisive conclusion; Monitor broke off briefly due to Lieutenant Worden being injured by a lucky shot, and by the time they returned the Virginia had set off for repair, leading both sides to declare victory. In the end, neither ship would survive the year; the Virginia, unable to flee upriver due to it's deep draft, was blown up by it's own crew on May 11 to prevent capture, and the Monitor was lost to rough seas on December 31st.

Manufacture: None
Model: None
BBL:
Stock:
Gauge:
Finish:
Grips:
Serial Number:

Good overall, with mild cracking of the surface but no significant wear or flaking. A few small patched repairs are present on the rear of the canvas. The frame is good, with some cracks, flaking and touch-ups of the veneer.