painting, Seamen on Jetty Being Instructed on Bends and Hitches
Report a Mistake- Object Number 19710261-2401
- Event 1939-1945 Second World War
- Affiliation --
- Artist / Maker / Manufacturer Murphy, Lieutenant Rowley Walter
- Date Made March 1943
- Category Communication artifacts
- Sub-category Art
- Department Art and Memorials
- Museum CWM
- Earliest 1943/09/01
- Latest 1943/09/30
- Inscription Recto, lower left, in black paint or ink: ROWLEY MURPHY; RCNVR, Verso, in black ink: no 1; Sept. 1943; Rowley Murphy - (signature of artist), in blue crayon: Ser No 29, in black felt pen: Seamen on Jetty Being Instructed on Bends and Hitches; Acc 10481 paper label: Artist LIEUT ROWLEY MURPHY; Title No. 1. UNTITLED; property of; Return Address THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA, OTTAWA, ONTARIO; Insurance Value $
- Medium oil
- Support wood panel
- Materials Not applicable
- Service Component Royal Canadian Navy
- Measurements Height 30.0 cm, Width 40.6 cm
- Caption Seamen on Jetty Being Instructed on Bends and Hitches Painted by Rowley Murphy in 1943
- Additional Information Esquimalt, British Columbia, formerly an important British naval base, was the largest naval training centre in western Canada. Its shore establishment, HMCS Naden, was named after a small wooden depot vessel and cadet training ship. The base played a critical role in the navy's Second World War expansion. Here, young sailors receive instruction in rope tying: 'bends,' which secured two lines together, and 'hitches,' which bent a line around an object, such as a stanchion.
- Caption Seamen on Jetty Being Instructed on Bends and Hitches
- Additional Information In Rowley Murphy's painting, sailors learn how to tie ropes under the supervision of an officer (left, in blue jacket). They are learning two types of knots: 'bends,' which secured two lines together, and 'hitches,' which bent a line around an object, such as a stanchion. Esquimalt, British Columbia, formerly an important British naval base, was the largest naval training centre in western Canada. Its shore establishment, HMCS Naden, was named after a small wooden depot vessel and cadet training ship. The base played a critical role in the navy's Second World War expansion.
- Caption Seamen on Jetty Being Instructed on Bends and Hitches, 1943
- Additional Information Working as an official war artist for the Royal Canadian Navy was not always the best of experiences, as Rowley Murphy found out when posted to Esquimalt, British Columbia: "I must admit that it is far from pleasant to be working in unsuitable, leaky buildings with no heat when outdoor temperatures are from 40 to 50 [°F]. The almost daily rain makes interior damp so great that water-colours are impossible to use if they are to have any crisp edges,... I should like to pay tribute to Commander Beament's [a fellow war artist] prediction of unexpected troubles ahead of me in which he was quite correct; as all he mentioned have materialized very unpleasantly, especially that of not being found in my 'office' from 9 to 5 P.M. like all good Naval Officers, when of course I was hard at work outdoors."