Indian Troop Ship in Portsmouth Harbour - Watercolour by Thomas Bush Hardy

Thomas Bush Hardy (1842-1897)
Indian Troop Ship 'Jumna' in Portsmouth Harbour

watercolour and bodycolour, signed and dated 1888

Size of watercolour: approx. 39.7 x 100.5 cm

Contained in the original Victorian wooden frame

Overall size including frame: 85.7 x 126 cm

Although generally referred to as HM Indian Troopships, the official designation was HMS (Her Majesty's Ship). The Euphrates-class troopships were a group of five purpose-built troopships paid for by the Indian government and launched in 1866-67. The sister ships were the 'Crocodile', 'Euphrates', 'Jumna', 'Malabar' and 'Serapis'. Each ship could transport a full battalion of infantry with married infantry with married families, or about 1200 people.

Before the opening of the Suez Canal the 'Crocodile' and the 'Serapis' ran between England and Alexandra, whilst the other three ships ran from Suez to Bombay. The troopships could each be identified by a different coloured hull band, with the Jumna's being red. She had an overall length of 360 ft and a breadth of 49 ft and spent most of her life conveying British troops to and from the Indian subcontinent, though she was also used during the Sudan War to convey Indian troops to Africa. The troopships served until 1894, by which time they were worn out by nearly thirty years of service. The Jumna became a coal hulk in her final years and was sold for scrap in 1922.

Thomas Bush Hardy (1842-1897)

Thomas Bush Hardy is regarded as one of the most important marine watercolourists of the late 19th century. He was born in Sheffield and was briefly apprenticed to his optician father before, in 1861, travelling to America to fight for the Union. Having returned home he married Mary Ann and by around 1870 Hardy had moved to London and began to support his growing family by painting.

Entirely self-taught, he quickly developed a fine reputation and exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy and Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours.

Hardy lived life to the full and was something of a bon viveur. He had nine children with two wives, was an enthusiastic member of the bohemian Savage Club and the Langham Sketching Club, possessed a renowned collection of antique armour (bits of which he would occasionally wear while entertaining guests), could play anything on the piano having heard it just once, and travelled on numerous painting tours to France, Italy, Germany, Scotland and the low countries.

His early death dismayed many of his contemporaries. His obituary in The Times records that he treated his marine subjects with 'unusual freshness and force' and that his work has 'unmistakeable vigour and no little beauty'.

With thanks to the excellent biographical reference work 'Thomas Bush Hardy 1842-1897' by David H. Kirby-Welch and John Morton Lee.