Northeast Auctions

CARVED AND PAINTED FIGUREHEAD OF A YOUNG WOMAN FROM THE FOUR-MASTED BARK "JOSEPH DOLLAR."Originally carved for the "Schuerbek" built in 1902 by J. Reid & Co., Glasgow, for Knoehr & Burchard of Hamburg, Germany. The figure reportedly modeled after Erna Grohmann (1874-1963), the oldest daughter of Heinrich Grohmann, a partner in the firm A.K. Schmidt & Co., one of... More

CARVED AND PAINTED FIGUREHEAD OF A YOUNG WOMAN FROM THE FOUR-MASTED BARK "JOSEPH DOLLAR."

Originally carved for the "Schuerbek" built in 1902 by J. Reid & Co., Glasgow, for Knoehr & Burchard of Hamburg, Germany. The figure reportedly modeled after Erna Grohmann (1874-1963), the oldest daughter of Heinrich Grohmann, a partner in the firm A.K. Schmidt & Co., one of the largest sail makers in Europe at the time. The four-masted bark "Schuerbeck" was put into service transporting wheat from California to Europe. On her maiden voyage she sailed from Hamburg to Santa Rosalia, Mexico. The "Schuerbeck" remained in Mexico for the duration of World War I, after which she was awarded to Italy by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. In 1921 the ship was purchased by Robert Dollar of the Dollar Steamship Co., San Francisco, and re-named the "Joseph Dollar." The Dollars, successful shipping magnates who entered the lumber trade in Canada, put the "Joseph Dollar" to work delivering lumber to the Orient. America`s last active four-masted steel bark, the "Joseph Dollar`s" final voyage ended in Shanghai, where she was sold in 1929 and converted to a cargo hulk.The three-quarter length figure depicted holding her right arm to her bosom and wearing a belted gown with drapery on a billet scrollwork base. Length 103 inches, width 31 inches, depth 27 inches. Acompanied by the book "To Santa Rosalia, Further and Back" and research material, including photographs of the figurehead`s model.Provenance: Removed from the ship and placed in the collection of the M.H. De Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, 1929-circa 2000.Literature: The "Joseph Dollar" illustrated on the cover of Harold D. Huycke, Jr., "To Santa Rosalia, Further and Back," which provides a history of the bark and similar square-rigged vessels kept in Mexico during the first World War.

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