Henry Branston Freer (1876-1947)
HMS Forth
Watercolour, signed lower-right
Contained in original gilt frame with old labels to the back
Overall dimensions including frame: 33.3 x 45.6 cm
HMS Forth was launched in 1886 as one of the Mersey class cruisers, but served in WWI as a submarine depot ship.
Henry Branston Freer was a marine artist specialising in coastal scenes and ship portraits, his style being heavily influenced by William Lionel Wyllie. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool and the Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham, particularly in the period 1905-1915. Freer is recorded as having lived in Rochester and Gravesend in Kent, any by 1914 was living at Blackheath.