Irish Arts Review

Belfast Harbour Office: A Haven of ArtAuthor(s): Eileen BlackSource: Irish Arts Review Yearbook, Vol. 9 (1993), pp. 134-138Published by: Irish Arts ReviewStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20492724 .

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IRISH ARTS REVIEW

BELFAST HARBOUR OFFICE: A HAVEN OF ART

The headquarters of a port authority may seem an unlikely setting for an

interesting and historic accumulation of paintings, sculpture and furniture. Never theless, Belfast Harbour Office contains just such a collection, built up since the

mid-nineteenth century mainly as don ations by numerous Harbour Commis sioners. The art collection, catalogued by the author in 1983', includes a few seventeenth and eighteenth century por traits by unknown artists, nineteenth century Italian and French sculpture and bronzes, nineteenth-century Irish paint ings and sculpture, and an assortment of paintings by twentieth century northern Irish artists such as Joseph W Carey, Frank

McKelvey and Maurice Wilks. The chief interest of the collection lies in its local historical relevance. Many of the land

Eileen Black outlines the history of one of Belfast's

splendid Victorian buildings and its art collection.

scapes are valuable as records of Belfast and its environs in former times. Probably the most interesting earlier views of the locality are a number of scenes by Hugh Frazer (fl. 1813-61), the first Ulster land scape painter of note and an important figure in Belfast's artistic community dur ing the 1830s. There are also numerous portraits of commissioners, many of whom were leading figures in the develop ment of the town over the years. These in clude Sir Edward Harland (1831-95), founder of the major shipbuilding firm of

Harland and Wolff, Sir Daniel Dixon (1844-1907), Belfast's first Lord Mayor

(in 1893), and Sir James Musgrave (1829-1904), a prominent merchant and local figure.

The origins of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners extend back to 1785, when The Corporation for Preserving and Improving the Port and Harbour of Belfast (commonly called the Ballast Board) was established by Act of Parlia ment. Of the fifteen Board members, three were honorary and never attended

meetings: Arthur Chichester, 5th Earl and later 1st Marquis of Donegall, John Foster, Speaker of the Irish House of Com mons and John Beresford, Chief Commis sioner of Revenue in the Irish govern

ment.2 The remaining twelve were all local merchants and shipowners. The

Board held meetings in various buildings in town until it acquired its own premises,

Unknown artist, Belfast Harbour Office, c. 1854, pencil and watercolour on white paper, heightened with white, 56.5 x 79 cm.

Courtesy Belfast Harbour Commissioners.

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IRISH ARTS REVIEW

BELFAST HARBOUR OFFICE: A HAVEN OF ART

the Ballast Office on Merchants' Quay. (The office had an observatory on its roof, to enable the Harbour Master to have a clear view of the port and channel seawards. This feature can be seen in the painting by James Glen Wilson). The Board remained in operation until 1847, when it was replaced by a new body with wide-ranging powers, the Belfast Harbour Commissioners. The Commissioners, however, continued to use the old Ballast Office until 1854, when they moved into a resplendent new building in Corpora tion Square, designed by their own engineer, George Smith. The Ballast Of fice was subsequently demolished to make way for the Custom House, designed by Charles Lanyon and completed in 1857.

As befitted the Commissioners' status as one of Belfast's most important bodies,

the new office was impressive and dignified. A drawing by an unknown art ist (perhaps Smith himself?) shows the early building as a compact two-storied Renaissance palazzo, with a Doric portico and clock tower with a belfry.3 (This lat ter feature was not merely ornamental but

was of prime importance to the smooth running of the harbour, being the public clock 'by which the hour of sailing of Steam Vessels plying from or within the Harbour of Belfast shall be determined.4 Steamers were forbidden to leave until the stated time and masters of rival passenger steamers were regularly fined for trying to cast off early). The Claren don dock, seen to the right of the paint ing, is no longer there, having been filled in between 1965 and 1967. The inauguration of the office on 7

March 1854 was the occasion of much celebration and civic pride. Over one hundred guests were present, including the Commissioners, their friends and the official staff of the Harbour Office. Among the numerous speeches, that by Commissioner Thomas McClure struck a prophetic note: 'We have but attained a certain point from which we are about to start to a far higher and prouder position than we have hitherto acquired . . . we have before us the prospect of prosperity which will go on increasing in an ac celerated ratio compared with our previous advancement.'5 Within thirty six years, in consequence of the expan sion of the port and Belfast's rise as one of the leading industrial cities in the British Isles, Smith's building was found to be in adequate. In 1890, the Belfast architect

3

Belfast Harbour Office, enlarged by WH Lynn and completed in 1895. The modern office block, opened in 1971, can be seen to the rear of the building. Courtesy Belfast Harbour Commissioners.

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IRISH ARTS REVIEW

BELFAST HARBOUR OFFICE: A HAVEN OF ART

William Henry Lynn was commissioned to design an extension.6 This later building retained the seaward face of Smith's office but absorbed two-thirds of the original entrance front into one of the two new wings which formed the main front.7

The enlarged office was officially open ed by Earl Cadogan, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, on 18 January 1896. The in auguration, held in the large colonnaded Public Room, with its fine vaulted ceiling and heraldic stained glass in the clerestory lunettes,8 was a splendid affair, with three hundred guests including the Duke and Duchess of Abercorn, the Mar quis and Marchioness of Londonderry and Lord Castlereagh. James Musgrave, chairman of the Board, in his address to the Lord Lieutenant, quoted a set of in teresting statistics illustrative of the growth of the port since the beginning of

the century. In 1800, the tonnage of ships trading to Belfast was 5,500; by 1896, it had grown to 2,150,000 tons. In 1800, the income of the port was a mere ?2,748; by the time of the opening of the enlarged of fice, it had risen to ?140,000. The splen did new building was indeed visible proof of Belfast's increased prosperity.

The Lord Lieutenant's observation, in his speech to the assembled worthies, that 'before long it will be necessary for you, if

you continue to increase your operations on the same scale . . . to add at least two more wings to the building',9 did not, however, become a reality until 1967, when the Commissioners found it necessary to add a new office block to the rear of the Harbour Office. The old and new buildings, connected by an overhead corridor on two floors, operate as one unit. The traditional Board Room, Com mittee Rooms and Public Room in the old

building retain their former use, while the modern office block, completed in 1971, functions as an administrative centre.

As far as is known, the first painting to be acquired was Thomas Robinson's Review of the Belfast Yeomanry by the Lord Lieutenant, the Earl of Hardwicke, 27 August 1804. Presented, in 1852, by the Rev Thomas Romney Robinson DD, the artist's son, it contained portraits of several important local figures including a number of Ballast Board members. The picture, the most prestigious in the Col lection, has an interesting history. Robin son, an English portrait, landscape and history painter, who worked from 1801, in Belfast, began the painting (which has also been called The Entry of Lord Hard wicke into Belfast as Lord Lieutenant, 27 August 1804) in October 1804. According to a local newspaper, Robinson hoped to defray the cost by receiving 'subscriptions

Thomas Robinson, Review of the Belfast Yeomanry by the Lord Lieutenant, the Earl of Hardwicke, 27 August 1804, oil on canvas, 162.5 x 244 cm (sight). Courtesy Belfast Harbour Commissioners.

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IRISH ARTS REVIEW

BELFAST HARBOUR OFFICE: A HAVEN OF ART

from one guinea upwards . . . all persons so subscribing may have their portraits in troduced without further expence.'" In

what appears a shrewd move aimed at the vanity of Belfast's nobility and gentry, he continued: 'It will be curious to hand down to other generations, the likenesses of the principal inhabitants of the present day, assembled in one of the most beautiful parts of the town (Donegall Place). An additional increase to the undertaking (is) that the ladies will be in troduced as gracing this interesting scene.' Provided he received one hundred and fifty guineas, the picture would become the property of the subscribers, who could place it wherever they wished in town. Robinson, however, apparently failed to

raise the amount he sought - there are only forty-four major figures in the pic ture. In a conversation with the well

known local figure Martha McTier in March 1807, he told her that he had ap proached the Marquis and Marchioness of Donegall in the hope that they would purchase the painting." That idea had unfortunately come to nothing as the Donegalls' affairs in Belfast were in ruin by December 1806.12 Disillusioned with the picture, he had decided to give it up but was persuaded by William Sinclaire, one of those included in the painting, to finish it, on the understanding that Sinclaire would either buy it or assist with costs. That too had fallen through as Sinclaire died on 11 February 1807. Ac cording to Mrs McTier, Robinson hoped that somehow the painting would be ac quired for Belfast's Exchange Rooms.

Despite the setbacks, Robinson com pleted the picture by the summer of 1807 and included it in an exhibition of his paintings at the Exchange. However, his

plan to raffle it on 1 September came to nothing, possibly because of lack of subscriptions. Obviously still anxious to sell, he altered the background, added a statue of Nelson and exhibited the work at the Society of Artists in Dublin in 1809, with a new title A military procession in Belfast in honour of Lord Nelson. (There

was never such a statue in Belfast). Not withstanding the popularity of the hero of Trafalgar, the painting still failed to sell and remained in the Robinson family's possession until presented to the Harbour Commissioners. The picture, which con tains several members of Belfast's leading families including the 2nd Marquis of

Donegall, is one of Robinson's few extant history pieces. A better-known example of his work in this genre is his Battle oJ Ballynahinch, completed some four and a half months after the battle on 13 June 1798 between Crown troops and the

'4v

James Hou'ard Burgess, View of Queen's Bridge, Harbour and Timber Pond, Belfast, 1858, oil on canvas, 68.5 x 95.2 cm.

Courtesy Belfast Harbour Commissioners.

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IRISH ARTS REVIEW

BELFAST HARBOUR OFFICE: A HAVEN OF ART

United Irishmen (Aras an Uachtarain, on loan to the National Gallery of Ireland). As stated above, many of the landscapes

in the collection are interesting records of nineteenth-century Belfast. Two such are View of Queen's Bridge, Harbour and Timber Pond, 1858 by James Howard Burgess and Belfast Harbour, Ferry Steps, 1851 by James Glen Wilson. Burgess (c. 1810-90), a landscape painter, ran a drawing academy in Belfast during the late 1840s and early 1850s and con tributed a number of views to Mr and Mrs S C Hall's Ireland, its Scenery, Character, etc, published 1841-43. The painting,

which is finely executed, depicts the Queen's Bridge, erected 1842-43, and the Custom House (the pedimented building to the left), completed in 1857 on the site of the old Ballast Office. The Cave Hill, one of Belfast's landmarks, dominates the background. Wilson's painting shows a Greek brig berthed at the Donegall Quay. Behind the vessel is one of the cross chan nel steamers which plied to Liverpool or Fleetwood. The Ballast Board observ atory can be seen in the right background, rising above the goods shed on the quay.

Wilson (1827-63), whose work was discussed in a previous yearbook, painted around Belfast during the early 1850s, before commencing a career as a ship's art ist with the Royal Navy.'3 Among the seventeenth-century por

traits, that of Justin of Nassau (1559 1631), from the studio of Jan Anthonisz. van Ravesteyn, is of particular interest. The painting, purchased by the Harbour Commissioners in 1940, was traditionally thought to represent Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone (1540?-1616), until re search indicated that the sitter was in fact Justin of Nassau, son of William I of

Orange. This identification is based on comparison with a similar portrait in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, ascribed to van Ravesteyn's studio.'4 The painting, the best of the early works in the collec tion, is delicately handled and has con siderable merit.

Of the sculpture, one piece stands out as an example of virtuosity, the Veiled Lady, from the workshop of Pietro Bazzanti. Bazzanti founded his sculpture studio in Florence in 1822 and the business remain ed in the family's possession until about 1940. Although under different owner ship, however, the firm still trades under the family name. Bazzanti employed numerous artists to work in his studio; the

, -,

Pietro Ba-zanti, workshop of, Veiled Lady, marble, height 114 cm. Courtesy Belfast

Harbour Commissioners.

Veiled Lady, a mid-to-late nineteenth cen tury piece, is by one of his anonymous employees. The carving of veiled figures first became popular in the eighteenth century, when the Venetian sculptor Antonio Corradini (1668-1752) made it his speciality. By the mid-nineteenth cen tury many sculptors had popularized the theme for workshops like Bazzanti's.

The Veiled Lady, smiling enigmatically through her diaphanous covering, ap pears almost to breathe with life. The piece is a striking and noteworthy exam ple of the sculptor's art.

The Commissioners' collection com prises over one hundred paintings, fifteen sculptures and four bronzes and is added to on occasion by portraits of Chairmen and scenes of the harbour area. The former normally show sitters wearing the

Commissioners' uniform, that is, a cream waistcoat with gilt buttons, blue tie and lapel ribbon with official insignia. The

wearing of uniform dates back to Queen Victoria's visit to Belfast in August 1849 when, in honour of the occasion, the Commissioners decided upon a standard ensemble: blue dress coat with inscribed gilt buttons, white waistcoat, blue

trousers, black stock and a round hat. An example of an early coat is on display at the Harbour Office. That the coat has been kept and the wearing of uniform maintained, says much for the Commis sioners' sense of history and their feeling for the importance of tradition.

The collection is not open to the public, but can be seen on request. In a city which has relatively few interesting and historic buildings, a visit to Belfast Harbour Office is well worth the effort.

Eileen Black

Eileen Black is an Assistant Keeper in the Ulster Museum, with curatorial responsibility for the pre twentieth century oil painting collection. Her publications include catalogues on James Glen Wilson (1980), Samuel McCloy (1981), the Harbour Commissioners' collection (1983) and on an area of the museum's holdings, Irish Oil Paintings, 1572-c.1830 (1991). She was also a contributor to, and the compiler and editor of, a major museum catalogue, Kings in Conflict: Ireland in the 1690s (1990). She has, in addition, contributed articles on art and on local history to numerous journals. Her

particular interest is art in Belfast in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

NOTES

1. Eileen Black, Paintings, Sculptures and Bronzes in the Collection of The Belfast Harbour

Commissioners, Belfast, 1983. All references to the Commissioners' collection comes from

this source.

2. Robin Sweetnam and Cecil Nimmons, Port of

Belfast 1785-1985: An Historical Review,

Belfast, 1985, p. 4. 3. Paul Larmour, Belfast: An illustrated

architectural guide, Belfast, 1987, p. 55.

4. Black, p. 43. 5. Belfast News-Letter, 8 March 1854. 6. For a discussion of Lynn's career, see Martyn

Anglesea, The Lynn brothers, architect and .

sculptor,' Irish Arts Review, Yearbook 1989-90.

7. Larmour, p. 55.

8. Ibid.

9. Northern Whig, 20 January 1896.

10. Belfast News-Letter, 9 October 1804. 11. Drennan Letters, edited by D A Chart, Belfast,

1931, p. 375. Mrs McTier's letters to her

brother, Dr William Drennan, provide a

fascinating glimpse of Belfast social life of the

late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

12. W A Maguire, Living like a Lord: The second

Marquis of Donegall 1769-1844, Belfast,

1984, p. 32.

13. Eileen Black, 'James Glen Wilson of Ireland

and Australia: an enigmatic artist', Irish Arts

Review, Yearbook 1990-91.

14. Reproduced in All the paintings of the

RUksmuseum in Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 1976,

p. 700.

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