An oil of HMS Ophir moored off Halifax in Canada sold for a multi-estimate sum at George Kidner’s (19% buyer’s premium) sale in Lymington on March 2.
The 21½in x 3ft (54 x 92cm) work, which bears no signature, is inscribed The Last Boats of the Season – HMS Ophir, Halifax 5th October 1901. An outline of two figures on the quay to the bottom right, suggests that the painting is unfinished.
The Ophir served as the Royal Yacht on a nine-month tour of the British Empire carrying the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, the future King George V and Queen Mary.