HISTORIC PICTURE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20233, 17 February 1934, Page 30 (Supplement)

HISTORIC PICTURE.

Presentation to Pilgrims’ Association. Miss Geraldine Fitz Gerald, of Lower Hutt, has presented a painting by the late James Edward Fitz Gerald, the first Superintendent of Canterbury, to the Canterbury Pilgrims and Early Colonists Association. The painting was done by Mr Fitz Gerald during his voyage to Canterbury in the ship Charlotte Jane, in 1850. He had met with an accident, and was forced to spend some time in bed. During that time, he pajnted all he could see, the inside of his cabin, and the waves just beyond, seen through the stern windows. The picture is accompanied by the following inscription: “Sketch taken from the bed in my cabin in the Charlotte Jane, to which I was confined at the time by an accident. November 1850.—J. E. Fitz Gerald.” The colours used are mainly browns and greys, but here and there the artist relieved the drabness with splashes of brighter hue. Thus there is the grey and brown of the walls and ceiling, contrasting with the light colour of the sky and sea. In the foreground is the end of the bed, and beyond that, the big easy chair, with its red cushion. On the left of the picture is a strawcoloured clothes basket, and a handsome reading desk. Above the desk is a swivel candle stick, attached to the wall. The picture is now in the care of Mr E. R. Webb, president of the Canterbury Pilgrims and Early Colonists Association, who will hand it over to the association at its next meeting.