Unknown
Antique Portrait of US Naval Man in Naples
c. 1850

Name: Antique Portrait of US Naval Man in Naples
Brand: Unknown
Rating: 5 (405 reviews)

Price:$1,469.41

$5,145.80List Price

About the Item

Mr. John Munro Italian School, circa 1850 signed and dated, inscribed oil painting on canvas, unframed provenance: private collection, France Superb and very rare portrait of a gentleman dated 1850. He carries a letter in his hand which tells us the fascinating story of who he is and a little bit about him - as his address was the "US Ship Cumberland, Mediterranean Squadron". The USS Cumberland toured the Mediterranean through the 1840's and 1850's, including Naples, where this portrait was painted in 1850. For collectors of US Naval history, this has to be a very special painting and one worth researching further. Who was John Munro? We do not know - but hopefully someone will! USS Cumberland History United States Name: USS Cumberland Laid down: 1824 Launched: 24 May 1842 Commissioned: 9 November 1842 Fate: Sunk 8 March 1862 General characteristics Class and type: Raritan-class frigate Tonnage: 1726 Length: 175 ft (53 m) Beam: 45 ft (14 m) Draft: 21.1 ft (6.4 m) Complement: 400 officers and men Armament: 1842: 40 × 32 pdr (15 kg) guns, 10 × 42 pdr (19 kg) carronades 1843: 36 × 32 pdr (15 kg) guns, 10 × 42 pdr (19 kg) carronades, 4 × 8 in (200 mm) "shell" guns 1857: 2 × 10 in (250 mm) Dahlgren guns, 22 × 9 in (230 mm) Dahlgrens 1861: 1 × 10 in (250 mm) Dahlgren, 22 × 9 in (230 mm) Dahlgrens, 1 × "70-pounder" rifle The first USS Cumberland was a 50-gun sailing frigate of the United States Navy. She was the first ship sunk by the ironclad CSS Virginia. Cumberland began in the pages of a Congressional Act. Congress passed in 1816 "An act for the gradual increase of the Navy of the United States." The act called for the U.S. to build several ships-of-the-line and several new frigates, of which Cumberland was to be one. Money issues, however, prevented Cumberland from being finished in a timely manner. It was not until Secretary of the Navy Abel Parker Upshur came to office that the ship was finished. A war scare with Britain led Upshur to order the completion of several wooden sailing ships and for the construction of new steam powered ships. Designed by famed American designer William Doughty, Cumberland was one a series of frigates in a class called the Raritan-class. The design borrowed heavily from older American frigate designs such as Constitution and Chesapeake. Specifically, Doughty liked the idea of giving a frigate more guns than European designs called for. As a result, he called for Cumberland and her sister ships to have a fully armed spar deck, along with guns on the gun deck. The result was a heavily armed, 50-gun warship. She was launched on 24 May 1842 by Boston Navy Yard. Her first commanding officer was Captain S. L. Breese, and her first service was as flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron from 1843 to 1845 where she had among her officers men like Foote (who served as executive officer) and Dahlgren (who served as a flag aide to Commodore Joseph Smith). The ship sailed to several parts of the Mediterranean including Port Mahon (homeport for U.S. Navy ships operating in the Mediterranean at this time), Genoa, Naples, Toulon, Jaffa, and Alexandria. The cruise was largely uneventful, though there was a diplomatic scuffle with the Sultan of Morocco who refused to recognize the newly appointed American ambassador. The incident possibly was the result of the Sultan being misled by the outgoing American ambassador who did not want to leave his post. Smith cleared up the misunderstanding and the new ambassador assumed his duties. The most notable event was Foote's successful effort to ban the grog ration. He believed it was a grand success in turning sailors into harder working, upstanding men. It later became Department policy in 1862 and it is still in effect to this day (with some exceptions.) As the ship was being made ready for a second trip to the Mediterranean, the Secretary of the Navy ordered the vessel to Mexico to assist in a show of force off the coast of Vera Cruz. Here she was flagship of the Home Squadron between February and December 1846, serving in the Gulf of Mexico during the Mexican–American War under the command of Cmdre. David Conner and Capt. Thomas Dulay. Capt. French Forrest later took command when Dulay fell ill. Other notable officers in this cruise were future Civil War rivals Raphael Semmes and John Winslow. The ship oversaw the blockade of the eastern Mexican coast for most of the war. She participated in several aborted attacks on Mexican ports, before running aground on 28 July off the coast of Alvarado. The ship was freed and her ship's company later participated in a raid on Tabasco. The grounding damaged her enough to force her to retire to Norfolk for repairs. Her crew, however, stayed behind and swapped ships with the crew of the sister frigate Raritan, which had been at sea for three years. The old crew participated in the siege of Vera Cruz as part of the Naval battery. Cumberland returned to Mexico just as a cease fire was in place. Commodore Matthew C. Perry took over as flag officer from Conner. From Cumberland, Perry was instructed by the Polk Administration to assist settlers fleeing a major Mayan insurrection (known as the Caste War of Yucatán). Perry was also ordered to enforce the Monroe Doctrine and keep Spanish and English forces from interfering. With no realistic way to assist the setters Perry partially ignored the order when Spanish warships arrived from Cuba loaded with guns, bullets, and money. Perry left the region when he read that the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo had been ratified. Cumberland made her second cruise to the Mediterranean from 1849–1851. Notable officers on board during the second and third cruises to the Mediterranean included Louis Goldsborough, John Upshur, Silas Stringham, Andrew Hardwood, John Worden (future commanding of officer of Monitor), and naval surgeon Dr. Edward Squibb (co-founder of the company now known as Bristol-Myers Squibb). Cumberland's primary mission during these two cruises was to uphold American neutrality during a very turbulent period in European history by assisting American diplomats, merchants, and increasingly large number of American missionaries. The ship made visits to La Spezia (the U.S. Navy's new overseas homeport after being expelled from Port Mahon), Naples, Trieste, and Brindisi. At one point police in Naples boarded the ship based on a false rumor that Italian nationalist Giuseppe Garibaldi was on board. The ship also sailed to the eastern half the Mediterranean and visited Athens, Beirut, and Alexandria. During the third cruise, the ship worked closely with diplomat and early environmentalist George Perkins Marsh who was serving as American ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. Marsh needed Cumberland's help in dealing with zealous Greek priests who were harassing American missionaries, notably Rev. Jonas King. Cmdre. Stringham and Marsh met with Greek monarch King Otto and stopped the harassment. Marsh needed Cumberland a second time when the powers of Europe were about to clash in the Crimean War. Stringham invited any American on board who felt they needed protection or assistance. Abd-ul-Mejid I, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, invited Stringham and Marsh for an official visit to determine the position of the U.S. in a possible war with Russia. Both Stringham and Marsh expressed their sympathies to the Sultan but maintained American neutrality on the subject. The third was long even by 19th century standards. Due to a lack of sailors to man a replacement ship, SecNav James C. Dobbin did not recall Cumberland until the ship had been at sea for three years. The ship returned home to Boston in 1855. At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Cumberland was at the Gosport Navy Yard, with orders to monitor the situation in Norfolk and Portsmouth. After the attack on Fort Sumter, the ship's company was ordered to gather up or destroy U.S. Government property. This included several crates of small arms and possibly (not yet confirmed) gold from the U.S. Customs House in Norfolk. The company was also ordered to spike all 3,000 guns at the Navy Yard within just a few hours. This latter task was impossible, given that only 100 sailors were assigned to the task. Sailors from the Yard and the barracks ship Pennsylvania boarded Cumberland as a part of the evacuation. She was towed out of the yard by the steam sloop Pawnee, escaping destruction when other ships there were scuttled and burned by Union forces on 20 April 1861 to prevent their capture. She sailed back to Boston for repairs. The aft 10-inch Dahlgren was removed and replaced with what many officers referred to as a 70-pounder rifle. This gun did not exist in the Navy's inventory at the time. It was possibly a 5.3 in (130 mm), 60 pdr (27 kg) Parrott rifle. She sailed back to Hampton Roads and took up station as a blockader, serving in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron until 8 March 1862. The sloop-of-war engaged Confederate forces in several minor actions in Hampton Roads and captured many small ships in the harbor. Additionally, Cumberland was a part of the expedition that captured the forts at Cape Hatteras. Cumberland is currently a ship wreck under the protection of several Federal laws including the Sunken Military Craft Act of 2005, the Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1987, and the Territorial Clause of the U.S. Constitution (which gives the U.S. Government exclusive rights to its own property). Federal courts have upheld these laws and the U.S. Government's exclusive rights to its own ships. Since her sinking, the ship has been the subject of many expeditions. Some of these expeditions have been in violation of Federal law and artifacts were seized by Federal agents. Many artifacts from these expeditions (both legal and illegal) are at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum. Wreck is facing west to east, with the bow of the vessel slightly above the floor of Hampton Roads. Cumberland was rammed and sunk in an engagement with the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) at Newport News, Virginia on 8 March 1862. The engagement known as the first day of the Battle of Hampton Roads between the two ships is considered to be a turning point in the history of world naval affairs as it showed the advantage of steam-powered, armored ships over sail-powered wooden hulled ships. It should be noted that because of Cumberland, Virginia lost two of her guns, her ram, and suffered some internal damage. Congress later recognized[citation needed] that Cumberland did more damage to Virginia than the U.S. Navy's ironclad Monitor, which did battle with Virginia the next day. One of the men who died aboard Cumberland was Navy chaplain John L. Lenhart, a Methodist minister. He was the first Navy chaplain to lose his life in battle. Condition report: The painting has some paint loss and former restorations (which we can arrange to be done if buyers wish). Generally it is sound and presentable.

Creation Year:
c. 1850
Dimensions:
Height: 25 in (63.5 cm)Width: 20 in (50.8 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
Medium:
Canvas,Oil
Movement & Style:
Victorian
Period:
Mid-19th Century
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Cirencester, GB
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU50933574991

Glass, Wood, Paint, Paper

Materials

Oil, Canvas

UnknownAntique Portrait of US Naval Man in Naplesc. 1850

About the Item

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Unknown
Antique Portrait of US Naval Man in Naples
c. 1850