19th Century Oil on Canvas of The Clipper Ship Thermopylae

Good quality Victorian period oil on canvas of the famous extreme composite clipper thermopylae built in 1868 by walter hood and co of aberdeen and designed for the china tea trade. On her maiden voyage she set a speed record of 63 days from Gravesend to Melbourne still the fastest trip under sail. In 1869 she raced the cutty sark from shanghi to london beating the cutty sark by 7 days. Later in her life in 1879 she entered the australian wool trade and later still in 1890 she became a canadian ship transporting wood. After a varied life sailing the seven seas she was sold to the portuguese navy in 1895 for use as a training ship, however this did not happen and she was used as a coal hulk eventually being sunk deliberately by torpedo at the mouth of the tagas in 1907.