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Laurence DunnSS Duchess of Bedford boat etching by Laurence Dunn RMS Empress of France
About the Item
We acquired a series of marine works from Laurence Dunn's Archives. To find more scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this seller."
Laurence Dunn (1910 - 2006)
SS Duchess of Bedford
Etching
9 x 14 cm
The SS Duchess of Bedford was an ocean liner launched and built in 1928 for the Canadian Pacific Steamships. Her Canadian Pacific sister ships were the Duchess of York, Duchess of Richmond, and Duchess of Atholl - all of which came to be known as the 'Drunken Duchesses' owing to their tendency to roll.
At the outbreak of war in September 1939, the Duchess of Bedford was commandeered by the Admiralty to bring civil and military officials from England to India, and was one of the ships which evacuated Singapore in 1941. She was also used in Operation Torch and in the Invasion of Sicily. She was renamed RMS Empress of France while being refitted in 1947. The ship was taken out of service in 1960 and broken up that same year.
Laurence Dunn was a well-known British marine artist and writer known for his depictions of ships. He grew up in Devon, where he practised drawing passing ships, and went on to study at the Central School of Art. He then worked for shipbuilding firm John I. Thornycroft & Company Limited, where he contributed to the design of the Royal Yacht. During the Second World War, Dunn worked in naval intelligence. In the early 1960s, he created many line drawings of Atlantic ocean liners.
Upon his death in 2006, the World Ship Society published the following obituary:
DUNN, Laurence. [December 15 2006 — Lloyds List] Many readers will be saddened by the death of well-known marine artist and writer Laurence Dunn in his 97th year. A man of encyclopaedic knowledge, he began his lifelong love of ships in Brixham, where he meticulously recorded passing traffic with the exquisitely accurate line drawings which later became something of a trademark. While studying at London’s Central School of Art his work was noticed by the Southern Railway, which commissioned profiles of its fleet, and this in turn led to work for Orient Line, where he also designed the well-known corn-coloured hull, and later Thorneycroft, where he helped with shaping draft plans for a new royal yacht. During the second world was he worked for naval intelligence at the Admiralty, where his technique did much to improve recognition standards, and greatly expanded his shipping clientele, becoming personally known to many chairmen. As well as the shipping press he worked for mainstream publications such as Everybody’s, Sphere and the upmarket comic Eagle. Through his many contacts he enjoyed going to sea in a great variety of ships from aircraft carriers to colliers. Laurence wrote several books, starting with ship recognition titles which introduced new standards of layout, but his best known work was probably Passenger Liners, which was widely taken up by the travel trade. His love of Greece, where he was an early publicist of island cruising, let to involvement in reshaping various passenger liners beginning with Greek Line’s OLYMPIA. In later life he designed several sets of shipping stamps for the Crown Agents, produced photographic volumes on Thames and Mediterranean shipping and still found time to enjoy the passing Thames traffic. Our sympathies go to his wife Jennifer, who provided succour to the many ship lovers who beat a path to the welcoming door of their Gravesend home.
- Creator:Laurence Dunn (1910 - 2006)
- Dimensions:Height: 3.55 in (9 cm)Width: 5.52 in (14 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Framing:Framing Options Available
- Condition:Very good.
- Gallery Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU795315185022
Laurence Dunn
A man of encyclopaedic knowledge, Laurence Dunn was a well-known marine artist and writer, who began his lifelong love of ships in Brixham, where he meticulously recorded passing traffic with the exquisitely accurate line drawings which later became something of a trademark. While studying at London’s Central School of Art, his work was noticed by the Southern Railway, which commissioned profiles of its fleet, and this, in turn, led to work for Orient Line, where he also designed the well-known corn-coloured hull, and later Thorneycroft, where he helped with shaping draft plans for a new royal yacht. During the Second World War, Dunn worked for naval intelligence at the Admiralty, where his technique did much to improve recognition standards, and greatly expanded his shipping clientele, becoming personally known to many chairmen. At the shipping press, Dunn worked for mainstream publications such as Everybody’s, Sphere and the upmarket comic Eagle. Through his many contacts, he enjoyed going to sea in a great variety of ships from aircraft carriers to colliers. Dunn wrote several books, starting with ship recognition titles which introduced new standards of layout, but his best-known work was probably Passenger Liners, which was widely taken up by the travel trade. His love of Greece, where he was an early publicist of island cruising, led to involvement in reshaping various passenger liners beginning with Greek Line’s OLYMPIA. In later life, Dunn designed several sets of shipping stamps for the Crown Agents, produced photographic volumes on Thames and Mediterranean shipping and still found time to enjoy the passing Thames traffic. Our sympathies go to his wife Jennifer, who provided succour to the many ship lovers who beat a path to the welcoming door of their Gravesend home.
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