The Celebrated Flying P-Liner Postosi Driving Through the Drake Passage in Formidable Southern Seas

Cape Horn Under Sail: M. Job’s Oil Portrait of the Five-Masted Potosi

Circa 1900 — The Celebrated Flying P-Liner Driving Through the Drake Passage in Formidable Southern Seas

Highlights

• Monumental maritime portrait of the celebrated five-masted barque Potosi.

• Painted by M. Job, early 20th century.

• Dating to circa 1900.

• Signed “Job” lower right.

• Inscribed verso “Potosi, Launched June 8th 1895.”

• The inscription corresponds with the vessel's documented historical launch date.

• Traditionally identified as depicting Potosi navigating the Drake Passage / Cape Horn waters.

• Highly detailed rendering of the vessel's extraordinary rigging and sail plan.

• Powerful treatment of the mountainous breaking seas.

• Oil on canvas.

• Impressive framed dimensions of 79.5 × 110 cm.

• Presented within a decorative gilt frame.

• Documented Tayler & Fletcher auction provenance.

• Previously from a Southern England private estate / collection.

• Subsequently museum exhibited.

• A commanding historical maritime painting celebrating the final great era of commercial sail.

Introduction

With her vast spread of canvas straining against the wind and mountainous waves breaking beneath her steel hull, the legendary five-masted barque Potosi dominates this remarkable early 20th-century maritime painting.

Signed by the artist Job and dating to circa 1900, the work captures one of the most extraordinary commercial sailing vessels constructed during the final great age of the windjammer.

Potosi is presented almost broadside, allowing the artist to celebrate the extraordinary complexity of her five-masted rig while simultaneously conveying the violent power of the surrounding sea.

The location is traditionally identified as the formidable waters associated with the Drake Passage and Cape Horn — an evocative and historically appropriate setting for a vessel whose working life was intimately connected with the demanding trade routes between Europe and the west coast of South America.

Of particular historical interest, the reverse carries the inscription:

“Potosi, Launched June 8th 1895.”

The date corresponds with the documented launch of the historic vessel and provides an important direct connection between the painting and the actual Potosi.

Catalogue Details

Artist: M. Job, Early 20th Century

Title: Cape Horn Under Sail: M. Job's Portrait of the Five-Masted Potosi

Descriptive Title: Potosi Navigating the Drake Passage, Cape Horn

Date: Circa 1900

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Signature: Signed “Job” Lower Right

Inscription: “Potosi, Launched June 8th 1895” Verso

Subject: Five-Masted Steel Barque Potosi

Location Depicted: Traditionally Identified as Drake Passage / Cape Horn Waters

Genre: Maritime / Marine Painting / Ship Portrait

Frame: Decorative Gilt Frame

Catalogue Note

The composition is constructed around the extraordinary horizontal profile of Potosi.

The great steel-hulled vessel stretches across the painting, her five masts rising through an atmospheric sky while an intricate network of rigging creates a remarkable counterpoint to the broad planes of the sails.

Fine linear detailing articulates the rigging and maritime architecture while carefully controlled tonal transitions give weight and curvature to the sails.

The name POTOSI is represented upon the bow, identifying the vessel portrayed.

By contrast, the foreground sea is visceral and energetic.

Dark swells surge towards the viewer, their crests transformed into heavily worked passages of pale paint. This pronounced treatment gives the water a physical presence and provides a dramatic counterpoint to the more precisely rendered ship.

A distant vessel further reinforces the sense of scale and maritime activity.

Potosi: A Giant of the Windjammer Era

Potosi was constructed in 1895 by Joh. C. Tecklenborg at Geestemünde, Germany, for the Hamburg shipping company F. Laeisz.

Built of steel and measuring approximately 133 metres in length, she was among the great commercial sailing vessels developed for long-distance bulk transportation at the end of the 19th century.

Potosi was rigged as a five-masted barque.

Her first four masts were square-rigged while the fifth carried fore-and-aft sails, creating the extraordinary sail plan represented in the present painting.

Her principal commercial role was associated with the South American nitrate trade, carrying cargo between the west coast of South America and Europe.

These voyages required vessels capable of enduring some of the world's most challenging sailing conditions.

The Flying P-Liners

Potosi belonged to the celebrated fleet operated by F. Laeisz and collectively remembered as the Flying P-Liners.

The company developed an international reputation for exceptionally fast, strongly constructed and efficiently managed sailing vessels, many traditionally bearing names beginning with the letter P.

These ships became especially associated with the Chilean nitrate trade.

At a time when steam propulsion was rapidly transforming international shipping, the Flying P-Liners represented the extraordinary technical sophistication that large commercial sailing ships had achieved.

Potosi was among the most spectacular examples of this final flowering of merchant sail.

The Drake Passage and Cape Horn

The present scene is traditionally identified as representing Potosi navigating the waters associated with the Drake Passage and Cape Horn.

The Drake Passage lies between the southern extremity of South America and Antarctica and is renowned for powerful currents, rapidly changing weather and exceptionally large ocean swells.

For sailing vessels engaged in the European-Chilean trade, the southern route around Cape Horn represented one of the most demanding passages in commercial navigation.

The great breaking seas depicted by Job therefore form a historically evocative setting for a ship whose reputation was established partly through her ability to operate successfully upon these formidable routes.

Robert Hilgendorf and Potosi

The early career of Potosi is closely associated with the celebrated sailing-ship captain Robert Hilgendorf, who became her first master.

Hilgendorf was one of the outstanding captains associated with F. Laeisz.

The operational success of Potosi and related vessels helped establish the formidable reputation enjoyed by the Flying P-Line during the final decades of commercial deep-water sail.

From Potosi to Flora

Following the First World War, Potosi eventually passed into Chilean ownership and was renamed Flora.

Her extraordinary career ended in 1925 following a fire aboard the vessel in the Atlantic.

After attempts to save the ship ultimately proved unsuccessful, she was sunk, bringing to an end approximately three decades in the life of one of the most celebrated large sailing vessels of her generation.

The Artist

The work bears the signature “Job” at the lower right.

When offered by Tayler & Fletcher in February 2025, the auction house catalogued the artist as “M- Job (early 20th century)” and titled the painting The barque Potosi in full sail.

The artist's complete identity has not presently been established with sufficient documentary certainty.

The painting is consequently catalogued as M. Job, early 20th century, preserving the documented auction attribution rather than extending the identification beyond the available evidence.

Provenance

Private Southern England estate / collection.

Tayler & Fletcher, North Cotswold Saleroom, Bourton-on-the-Water, Fine Art, Vintage and Interiors, 15 February 2025, Lot 384, catalogued as “M- Job (early 20th century), The barque Potosi in full sail.”

The auction documentation records the painting as oil on canvas, signed lower right and inscribed verso “Potosi, Launched June 8th 1895.”

Acquired by Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®.

Subsequently museum exhibited.

Dimensions

Canvas:

Height: Approximately 59.7 cm

Width: Approximately 90.2 cm

Framed:

Height: 79.5 cm

Width: 110 cm

Depth: 4.5 cm

Condition Report

Presented in fine antique condition.

The painted surface remains in good overall order, with various areas of age-related craquelure together with foxing and staining in places, commensurate with the work's age and history.

The decorative gilt frame displays general wear, scuffs, chips, losses and historic repairs, together with minor areas of paint touching-up around the corners.

The reverse is fitted with hanging thread and the painting is ready for immediate wall display.

Please refer carefully to all accompanying photographs as they form an integral part of the condition assessment.

Shipping

Worldwide shipping is available.

Given the substantial scale of the work, the painting will be professionally and securely packed for transit, with particular care given to protecting the historic canvas and decorative gilt frame.

Certificate of Sale & Dealer Attribution

The artwork will be supplied with a Certificate of Sale & Dealer Attribution issued by Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®, recording the artwork’s catalogue details, attribution, provenance as stated, and details of the sale. This document accompanies the work as part of its ongoing ownership and provenance record.

Attribution and Research

The historical observations, provenance research, attribution analysis and contextual commentary presented within this catalogue entry represent the professional opinion of Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®. They are offered in good faith as informed scholarly assessments based upon the available evidence, comparative research, published reference material and our experience within the international fine art market.

These observations should be understood as professional opinions rather than definitive statements of fact or guarantees of authorship, attribution, date, origin, provenance or historical interpretation. As with all historic works of art, future documentary discoveries, technical examination, conservation analysis or advances in academic research may refine, expand or revise current interpretations.

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Every artwork is professionally researched and catalogued using comparative scholarship, published reference material and more than two decades of experience within the international fine art market. We are committed to offering collectors works of artistic and historical merit accompanied by transparent provenance research, detailed catalogue descriptions and professional, client-focused service.

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