Eight Bells: The Boy at the Helm, from "Illustrated London News"

Hamilton Macallum

January 1, 1876 · Wood engraving · Drawings and Prints

Macallum moved to London from Glasgow, after training in a merchant's office for what his father hoped would be a commercial career in India. Instead, the young man escaped to London in 1864 to study at the Royal Academy Schools. This print suggests that he had achieved a solid reputation by 1876. An accomplished sailor, the artist used a small yacht to sketch subjects in western of Scotland and Devon. Eight bells is the nautical term for twelve o'clock and we here see a youth left to tend the tiller at noon, presumably as his shipmates eat lunch. The slack line indicates a light breeze and little danger.

Artist

Hamilton Macallum

Date

January 1, 1876

Medium

Wood engraving

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Donato Esposito, 2019