MOUNT STEWART

The glorious age of the clipper ships lasted for only a couple of decades in the mid-nineteenth century. It was a short but sweet era, dominated by some of the most graceful and fast sailing ships the world has ever seen. Slim-hulled, with towering masts and billowing sails, they were the greyhounds of the sea. One of the last ever built was the Mount Stewart, the epitome of clipper design and commissioned exclusively for the burgeoning Australian wool trade. Robert Taylor, renowned for his maritime as well as aviation paintings, has portrayed the Mount Stewart to perfection as, with a freshening breeze behind her, she drives relentlessly across the lonely ocean.