Fantome and Sunbeam off Cowes - Signed Etching by W.L. Wyllie

William Lionel Wyllie RA (1851-1931)
Fantome and Sunbeam off Cowes, c.1925

etching, signed in pencil

Double-mounted in black wooden frame

Overall dimensions including frame: 33 x 51.9 cm

The two large luxury yachts depicted in this scene had both circumnavigated the globe, the Sunbeam being the first private yacht ever to do so.

The large three-masted barque coming towards us was then known as Fantome II and had been owned since 1922 by Sir Ernest Guinness. She was launched in 1896 as the Belem, a 167 ft sguare-rigged cargo ship operating from Nantes transporting coffee, sugar and cocoa to the West Indies and Brazil. She was later converted to a luxury yacht and was owned by the Guinness family until 1952. Sir Ernest and his family took the yacht on a long cruise around the World in 1923. After Sir Ernest's death she was sold to a Venetian count and was eventually fully restored in 1979, returning to her home port of Nantes and given her original name Belem again. She began a new career as a sail training ship, continuing to this day, and will carry the Olympic torch from Athens to Marseille in May 2024.

Sunbeam was a three-masted 159 ft luxury schooner built for Sir Thomas Brassey (1836-1918) and launched in 1874. Brassey, the son of railway magnate Thomas Brassey (1805-1970), was a Liberal Party politician who served as Governor of Victoria from 1895 to 1900. He is also known for founding Brassey's Naval Annual.

Sunbeam became somewhat famous following the publication of a bestselling account written by Brassey's wife Annie describing a world cruise taken in her by the Brasseys and their entourage of 43 including their children, friends, servants and crew from July 1876 to May 1877. The Brasseys were keen sailors and undertook many other cruises in home waters and further afield. Sir Thomas Brassey died in 1918 and the yacht was sold to Sir Walter Runciman in 1922.

This view of the two yachts off Cowes is believed to have been recorded by Willie in the mid 1920s.

We only sell original etchings by Wyllie, each bearing his pencil signature to the lower margin. Framed in our studio using conservation materials.