“The Marshall” by John Scott. South Shields Museum, England

Marshall was a barquentine rigged iron screw steam ship of 214 tons and was one of the early iron steam ships built at the Lawe yard of the innovative South Shields shipbuilder and engineer Thomas Dunn Marshall (1804-1864).

Marshall was built in 1846 for the Hamburg company ‘Elbe-Humber Dampschiffahrt Gesellschaft’, and seems to have been one of five ships built for the same company in 1845/6. As one would expect given her date, she looks very much like a sailing ship, with a steam engine grafted on to her. She has the decorative painted gunports that were popular around this time and you can also see the outfall of cooling water from the engine.

Although she is apparently entering the Tyne she is flying the Blue Peter flag from her foremast meaning “I am about to proceed to sea”. Many of John Scott’s ship portraits include the Blue Peter. The ensign flying from the gaff of the mizzen mast is of Hamburg.

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, Tyne & Wear
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: John Scott (1802-1885)
Date: c. 1846

Image details
Date: 15 June 2022
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/50s
ISO: 250
Licence: Image of a North East Museums asset. This image cannot be licensed.