A quiet day on the Arabian Gulf

Hand, T[homas] H[enry] H[erbert], Royal Indian Navy surveyor and marine painter (1870-1933). "Off Linga, Persian Gulf". Original watercolour.

€ 3.500,00

A lovely nautical watercolour of three ships off "Linga", that is Bandar Lengeh on the Iranian shore of the Gulf, situated directly north of the United Arab Emirates on the Arabian shore. One ship is particularly European, likely British, its unidentified flag flying limp in the still air of the quiet Gulf. The city of Bandar Lengeh was at one point a major trading port which did much of its business with Oman. It was also attacked by British forces, which used a naval bombardment to shell the city in 1809, having alleged that it was a haven for pirates. The sloping seaside hills of Persia are shaded with deft brushstrokes, and the delicate rigging and masts of the ships are picked out with a careful hand.

T. H. H. Hand was the son of Captain Henry Hand RN and Anna McCheane. In 1888 he was recorded as a lieutenant; he subsequently joined the Royal Indian Marine and qualified as a master in the merchant services in Bombay in 1902. This lovely historic view of the Gulf was likely created in the early years of the 20th century, when Hand was involved in the Marine Survey of India and the Gulf coast.