The American Clipper, Flying Cloud

The Clipper ship, Flying Cloud, was the masterpiece of Donald McKay, the foremost marine architect and shipbuilder of his time. She was launched in East Boston in 1851, just at the time of the California "Gold Rush", when travel and transport between East Coast ports and California was best undertaken by ship. The Flying Cloud acquired a reputation for sailing faster than any other ship of her time. On one record breaking occasion under command of Captain Josiah Creesy, she made the passage from New York to San Francisco in 88 days, 22½ hours, a feat never again achieved by a sailing vessel. The Flying Cloud could be seen racing into port before the wind, her acres of sail flashing in the sun. An ordinary sailing ship would lift her bows and plunge with the seas. But not this one. As her sleek, jet-black hull sliced through the swells, the only visible motion was the white curl at her bow and an occasional toss of spray. She seemed to skim the waves like a gigantic black and white bird. During her later years, she carried tea from China to London, making the passage from Foochow in 123 days. Like all of the fast clipper ships, her time came to a close as steam-powered vessels took over maritime commerce. Flying Cloud met an unfortunate end when she ran aground in 1874, could not be rescued, and was burned to salvage metalwork.

The engraving of the famous American Clipper Ship Flying Cloud presented here shows the ship as she surges forward in rolling seas towards an unknown port. She is heeling to leeward under full sails on a starboard beam reach. Many gulls are soaring off her starboard quarter. The artist, Burnell Poole, (1884-1933), spent years at sea in the North Atlantic with the U.S. Navy during WW One . Thirty years before our navy had combat artists, Poole recorded the warships in action. The U.S. Navy has less than two dozen works of art recording this period, and Poole's contributions number five. They were commissioned by E.I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company, and donated to the Naval Historical Foundation between 1928 and 1929 to commemorate the Navy’s participation in the war. These paintings, owned by the Navy Historical Foundation, are on exhibit in Washington, DC. Later, Poole turned to portraying the sea, by mastering the technique of engraving and dry-point. He earned a reputation as being the greatest American marine artists in those techniques. In 1922, he was being compared favorably to Englishman, Arthur Briscoe, 1873-1943. Poole also did engravings of many famous sailing yachts and ships and is applauded for his seascapes, navy and sailing ship works which all evidence the feelings of a true seaman. He engraved Flying Cloud in or about 1929.

Information extracted from www.landandsescollection.com which last sold the engraving in 2007.

Click here for images of come other ships appearing in the Flying Cloud pattern and their stories.

Below is Blogger's collection of Wedgwood's Georgetown Collection of Flying Cloud Rust. Blogger was among the very first to start buying this collection shortly after it was introduced in 1969, when Blogger was a navy officer. It seems that some of the pieces now being sold on e-bay are located around various navy bases.

If anyone has any of the pieces followed with an * below, he may be interest in talking with you about purchasing them (please post a comment below to that effect).

Photos of each of the below pieces will soon be added to this web site.

Bowl	Soup bowl	8
Bowl	Cream soup bowl	8
Bowl	Oatmeal bowl	8
Bowl	Rice bowl *	3
Bowl	Dessert bowl	8
Bowl	Small bowl (nut dish?) *	1
Cup	Coffee cup	9
Cup	Coffee cup saucer	22
Cup	Tea cup	13
Cup	Tea cup saucer	9
Cup	Demitasse cup	12
Cup	Demitasse cup saucer	12
Cup	Jumbo cup	8
Cup	Jumbo cup saucer	8
Cup	Mug	8
Other	Egg Coddler, double *	2
Other	Egg cup, double *	0
Other	Egg cups, single *	6
Other	Egg Coddler, single	10
Plate	Plate snack w/cup ring 9" *	2
Plate	Plate Dinner 10"	12
Plate	Plate Breakfast 9" *	0
Plate	Plate Salad 8.5"	12
Plate	Plate (round) 7" *	0
Plate	Plate Bread 6"+	12
Plate	Plate Butter	12
Serving	Ashtray large	1
Serving	Ashtray small	3
Serving	Soup Tureen, plate, ladle	1
Serving	Sauce tureen, plate, ladle	1
Serving	Tray oval 16.5"	1
Serving	Tray oval 14"	1
Serving	Tray oval 13"	1
Serving	Tray oval 12"	1
Serving	Tray oval 11" *	0
Serving	Cake plate handled	1
Serving	Cake plate	2
Serving	Chop plate round	1
Serving	Ice Bucket	1
Serving	Vegetable dish, covered	1
Serving	Vegetable dish, uncovered *	5
Serving	Octagonal melon bowl	1
Serving	Creamer (milk jug) ½ pt	2
Serving	Creamer (milk jug) 1/3 pt	0
Serving	Jam/Jelly bowl tall, lid *	1
Serving	Butter box with lid	1
Serving	Chinese (sugar) jar large	2
Serving	Chinese (sugar) jar small	2
Serving	Fruit Bowl large round	1
Serving	Fruit Bowl small round	1
Serving	Relish (leaf shaped) dish	1
Serving	Pitcher	1
Serving	Coffee pot large	1
Serving	Coffee pot small *	1
Serving	Coffee Pot mini *	0
Serving	Tea pot, large (4 cup, 2 pt)	1
Serving	Tea pot, small (2 cup, 1 pt) *	0
Serving	Gravy Board attached plate	1
Serving	Gravy boat	1
Serving	Relish dish (Gravy boat plate) *	4
Serving	Sandwich tray Large	1
Serving	Meat dish *	0
Serving	Pickle dish *	0

Other American Clipper Ships Appearing in Flying Cloud Pattern

Although the easily recognizable image of the famous Flying Cloud clipper ship appears on most of the pieces in the pattern, the images of a few other famous clipper ships also appear on some of the pieces. In addition to their images, the names of those ships appear on the bottom of the pieces. Those pieces are as follows:

Top left - The Game Cock, launched on December 21, 1850. (A figurehead of a gamecock with an outstretched neck graced the bow of the heavily-sparred Game Cock clipper.) The Game Cock was owned by a man named Daniel C. Bacon. (Click here for a web site with more information.) By the way, the game Cock was launched the same day in the same shipyard in Boston as another clipper, the Witchcraft, which was slightly smaller than the Game Cock. My guess is that Wedgwood decided wisely decided against putting that name on any of its china.

Top right - The Ann McKim, launched in 1833. This ship, considered to the first clipper ship, was owned by Isaac McKim, who named it after his wife. Building it was considered a radical experiment at the time, but it then went on to become the model for many of the clipper ships built over the next 25 years. (Click here for more information.)

Bottom right - The Red Jacket clipper ship was built in Maine, from where, on November 2, 1853, she was towed to New York for final fitting of her mast and rigging. This extreme clipper ship, which set the unbroken speed record from New York to Liverpool, was named after Red Jacket (1750-1830) --- known as Otetiani in his youth and Segoyewatha ("he keeps them awake") after 1780 --- was a Native American Seneca chief of the Wolf clan and orator who traditionally wore a red jacket given to him by the British. As a tribute to her namesake, The Red Jacket carried a life-sized carving of him as a figurehead. She was also considered the handsomest of the large American built clippers until her end when, in a storm on December 15, 1885 she parted her moorings and was wrecked ashore. (Click here for more information.)

Bottom left - Tine Young America, launched April 30, 1853, in New York for George B. Daniels. On February 17, 1886, she passed the Delaware Breakwater outward bound from Philadelphia for Fiume and was never heard of again. (Click here for more information.)

The origins and evolution* of Wedgwood's fascination with the American clipper ship are perhaps known only to it, but the clipper ships appeared on the scene 38 years after Josiah Wedgwood's death in 1795. Perhaps it may be because those speedy clipper ships help speed the delivery of orders of Wedgwood's famous pieces around the world and the pattern was a tribute to their role in the growth of the company, especially in a growing America.

* Sspeaking of evolution, Charles Darwin was grandson of Josiah Wedgwood (and, I believe, Darwin married a Wedgwood relation). Darwin's famous ship, The Beagle, launched on May 11, 1820, was not an American clipper ship, given that it was launched on May 11, 1820, 13 years before the first American clipper, and was built at the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames in England.