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Photo: © Mariners' Museum (inv. 739)
inv. 413
Steam Demi Bark Antelope
Alternate title: Steam Demi-Bark "Antelope"
c.1855
Colored lithograph on paper
8 1/8 x 14 1/4 in. (20.6 x 36.2 cm) (sheet) 32.5 x 40 cm
Signed across bottom: Steam Demi Bark ANTELOPE, 615 tons. From a painting by F.H.Lane. By J.H. Bufford's Lith. 260 Washington St., Boston Lithographed expressly for the Nautical Magazine
Commentary

In 1855 the Nautical Magazine published an article on R.B. Forbes's steam demi-bark, "Antelope." The article included a lithograph of the vessel made after a painting by Lane. J. P. Newell is signed on the stone in the lower right corner, indicating that he was the artist who lithographed Lane's design. The lithograph for the magazine was printed on tissue-weight paper, and hand-colored. (for example, Steam demi bark Antelope, 615 tons, c.1855 (inv. 375)) A stand-alone version (Steam demi bark Antelope, 615 tons, c.1855 (inv. 740)) was printed on a heavier paper, hand-colored and printed with a tint stone outlining the sky. This lithograph is a third version which has an inscription indicating the original place of publication in the Nautical Magazine. The painting from which this lithograph was made is likely the grisaille painting The "Antelope", 1855 (inv. 678).

Related Work in the Catalogue
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Historical Materials

Below is historical information related to the Lane work above. To see complete information on a subject on the Historical Materials page, click on the subject name (in bold and underlined).
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PDF
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publication
List of ships owned by R. B. Forbes
Robert Bennet Forbes

1876 Table within book

From R. B. Forbes, Personal Reminiscences (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., first published 1876).

View related catalogue entries (2) »

Filed under: "Antelope" (Brig) »   //  "Antelope" (Steam Demi-Bark) »   //  "Massachusetts" (Auxiliary Steam Packet Ship) »   //  "R. B. Forbes" (Tow Boat) »   //  Forbes, Robert Bennet »

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PDF
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publication
The Japan and China Packet Propeller Antelope
John W. Griffiths
In U.S. Nautical Magazine and Naval Journal 3 (October 1855). Published by Griffiths, Bates and Co., New York.

Filed under: "Antelope" (Steam Demi-Bark) »

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Vessels (Specific / Named): "Antelope" (Steam Demi-Bark)
View related Fitz Henry Lane catalog entries (3) »

The steam demi-bark "Antelope" was designed jointly by Samuel Hall and Samuel H. Pook and built in Hall's shipyard at East Boston in 1855. The design concept and construction were closely overseen by Robert Bennet Forbes; the machinery was constructed by Otis Tufts and turned a Griffith propeller. Designed for traveling in pirate-infested Far Eastern waters, the vessel was heavily armed, even fitted out with a pump able to throw hot water from her boilers to a distance of 100 yards. Even the term "demi-bark" was novel, as the barkentine rig was then a novelty itself. John W. Griffiths, in describing this vessel, proposed the term "brigantern," a cross between "brigantine" and "tern," the latter term for a three-mast schooner.

This vessel was described at length by Griffiths in The U.S. Nautical Magazine and Naval Journal 3 (October 1855), 11–17, including Lane's lithograph.

– Erik Ronnberg

PDF
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publication
Auxiliary Steamships and R.B. Forbes
Cedric Ridgely-Nevitt

"The American Neptune" vol. 1, no. 1 January 1941 pp. 51-57

Also filed under: "Massachusetts" (Auxiliary Steam Packet Ship) »   //  Forbes, Robert Bennet »

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PDF
[ view ]
publication
List of ships owned by R. B. Forbes
Robert Bennet Forbes

1876 Table within book

From R. B. Forbes, Personal Reminiscences (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., first published 1876).

View related catalogue entries (2) »

Also filed under: "Antelope" (Brig) »   //  "Massachusetts" (Auxiliary Steam Packet Ship) »   //  "R. B. Forbes" (Tow Boat) »   //  Forbes, Robert Bennet »

[+]
PDF
[ view ]
publication
The Japan and China Packet Propeller Antelope
John W. Griffiths
In U.S. Nautical Magazine and Naval Journal 3 (October 1855). Published by Griffiths, Bates and Co., New York.
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Provenance (Information known to date; research ongoing.)
See IMPRESSIONS tab for individual provenance.
Exhibition History
2017–18 Cape Ann Museum
Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester, Massachusetts, Drawn From Nature & on Stone: The Lithographs of Fitz Henry Lane, October 7, 2017–March 4, 2018. (Exhibition catalogue: Cape Ann Museum 2017) (Impression: The Mariners' Museum (inv. 739)).
Published References
Wilmerding 1963
Wilmderding, John. "The Lithographs of Fitz Hugh Lane." Old-Time New England LIV, no. 2 (October–December 1963), fig. 1, p. 34 (Impression: The Mariners' Museum (inv. 739)).
American Neptune 1965
The American Neptune, Pictorial Supplement VII: A Selection of Marine Paintings by Fitz Hugh Lane, 1804–1865. Salem, MA: The American Neptune, 1965, plate XXIV, no. 177 (Impression: The Mariners' Museum (inv. 739)).
Wilmerding 1988c
Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art; in association with Harry N. Abrams, 1988, fig. 11, ill. in b/w, p. 70 (Impression: The Mariners' Museum (inv. 739)).
Cape Ann Museum 2017
Barnhill, Trafton. Drawn from Nature & on Stone: the Lithographs of Fitz Henry Lane. Gloucester, MA: Cape Ann Museum, 2017. Exhibition catalogue (2017–18 Cape Ann Museum), fig. 65 (Impression: The Mariners' Museum (inv. 739)).
Impression Information

The Mariners' Museum (inv. 739)

Steam Demi Bark Antelope, c.1855 (inv. 739)
Photo: © Mariners' Museum (inv. 739)
Courtesy of The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Va. (1935.0674.000001 / LP 0517)

Provenance

The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Virginia, 1935
Record last updated May 7, 2024. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: "Steam Demi Bark Antelope, c.1855 (inv. 413)." In Fitz Henry Lane Online. Gloucester, MA: Cape Ann Museum. www.fitzhenrylaneonline.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=413 (accessed on August 2, 2025).