This is a rarer small-scale etching by the celebrated printmaker, Frank Brangwyn.
It is pencil signed along the bottom right-hand margin.
Image Size is 14 x 16.5 cm.
It is a rarer work by Brangwyn dating to 1919 and comes from a small edition of only 76 impressions before the plate was destroyed.
The print was drawn on the spot by Brangwyn straight onto the copper plate - and this gives a very quick and sketchy appearance to the composition. There is a lot of inky drypoint in the lines depicting the ship where the artist has rapidly scratched deep dark lines directly into the metal.
The image is very atmospheric and shows a thee-masted sailing ship being towed by a tug with a tall funnel - there is a small boat in the foreground to the right - and in the distance are more old sailing vessels - the sun setting sun in the sky is symbolic of the loss of these impressive ships - and reminiscent of the famous Fighting Temeraire by JMW Turner. The skeletal masts lacking sails and the spooky light makes me think of ghost ships.
Brangwyn has added fuzzy mezzotint to the plate to the tones and shadows - and has printed the drypoint with dark brown ink to give a feeling of the antique.
An impression of this harder-to-find early work by Brangwyn is in the collection of the British Museum.