Dressed to Kill, Dressed to Till
Graphite on woven paper, 7 ¾ x 5 in. (view), initialed by artist ‘E.D” on lower right corner and bearing red Duncan studio stamp on lower left corner; conservation matted in maple frame. Not examined outside of frame. 16 1/8 x 12 ¾ in. overall. A fisherman dressed in his specialized clothing for cold and wet work, including a knitted wool cap and jumper, short, wide legged trousers of sailcloth, commonly called “skilts” and water-repellent boots of sealskin. Edward Duncan (1803-1882) was a London-based landscape and marine artist who began his career as a copyist and engraver in the studio of Robert Havell, where he learned aquatint engraving. Duncan had little firsthand knowledge of ships and the sea, and instead specialized in coastal scenes, craft and inhabitants, which he sketched from life during his travels in Britain and on the Continent. Although he also worked in oil, Duncan excelled in watercolor in which he “could achieve a freshness and immediacy that transcend[ed] formula and imitation” with a “subtlety and crispness in the handling.”
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