The Marco Polo in the Mersey Size: Image Size 36 x 24 Inches Medium: Oil on Canvas Price: $25,000.00

The Marco Polo, built by James Smith and launched at Marsh Creek in Courtenay Bay on 17 April 1851, was probably the most famous ship ever constructed in New Brunswick.

Although primarily styled as a timber-drogher to carry an immense cargo, the Marco Polo, incorporating some of the features of the radically new clipper- type vessel, was designed more sharply below the water line.

Registering at 1625 tons, she was large and elegant. Her three complete decks were possibly overshadowed by the white, full-length figure on her masthead – the 13th century globe-trotting adventure – Marco Polo.

In 1852 James Baines and Company of Liverpool purchased the “ Marco Polo” for the newly-formed Black Ball Line. The “Marco Polo was refastened with copper, sheathed in metal, and fitted with berths for the passengers trade.

Her captain, James “bully” Forbes, took command of the “Marco Polo” and earned a reputation as a hard-driving skipper.

With a crew of 60, and 960 passengers, the “Marco Polo” left Liverpool for Australia on 4 July 1852. Forbes boasted that he would be back in London within 6 months, a claim not taken seriously by the shipping world. On her passage to Melbourne, she averaged 336 miles a day and arrived in 68 days. She returned in 76 days and was labeled the “fastest ship in the world.

The painting depicts the “Marco Polo” arriving in the Mersey to pick up a tow for Liverpool Dock.