This rendering of the steamship Isabel, which had a maritime career from 1848 to 1863, is a highly evocative representation of the maritime history of antebellum South Carolina and the Confederate States of America. Believed to have been painted around the year 1855 by Joseph B. Smith and his artist-son, William S. Smith, this work of art captures the vitality, technological mastery, and expansive commercial vision of the pre-Civil War United States.
Commissioned by a group of Charleston business leaders, the Isabel was built in Baltimore, Maryland in 1847-1848. It was constructed specifically to serve the United States postal service, as well as coastal passenger trade, between the eastern United States and the Spanish colony of Cuba. During the Civil War, the Isabel, renamed the Ella Warley, operated out of Charleston for two years as a blockade runner. Following its capture by the Union Navy in April 1862, the Ella Warley was purchased by a New York City shipping company. The illustrious ship’s career ended when it collided with another vessel and sank off Sandy Hook, New Jersey in February 1863.
The Isabel took center stage in two noteworthy historical episodes. During the spring of 1850, its regular packet duties included transporting the Cuban-born South Carolina citizen Narciso Gonzales and other “filibusters” along the coast to and from Havana as they made an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Spanish royal government in Cuba. After the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter on April 12-13, 1861, the Isabel was used to evacuate Colonel Robert Anderson and his Union troops from the fort and convey them to Union warships off the coast of Charleston.
The painting attributed to Joseph B. Smith and Son, circa 1855, depicts the Isabel in open sea from her port side. An American Stars and Stripes, the flag of Spain, and identifying pennants fly from the ship’s masts. Sailing sloops are seen in the painting’s background, while male and female passengers stroll about the decks as crewmembers. Attribution of the painting to Joseph B. Smith and his son, William S. Smith, of Brooklyn, New York has been made primarily by comparison with other ship paintings known to have been painted by the pair. Additional evidence in favor of the Smith and Son attribution is a partially legible business card concluding with the word “[Broo]klyn” affixed to the painting’s original stretchers. Other Smith and Son paintings have been identified by a Smith business card being similarly affixed to their unsigned paintings.
Provenance
Ida Isabel Bamberg from her father John Mahoney, Jr., Charleston, SC (1831-1869), estate settled 1906.
[Annie] Isabel Bamgery Young from her grandmother Ida Isabel Bamberg, Bamberg, SC by bequest 1919
Greaton E. Bamberg III from [Annie] Isabel Bamberg Young, Bamberg, SC by bequest 2005
The present owner purchased from Greaton E. Bamberg, III of Charleston, SC Jan. 9, 2006
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