Posner Maritime Art Collection
SS Drenthe
signed “DGY”
Oil on canvas, 25″ x 33″
This painting depicts a single-funneled steamship, with two masts and a clipper bow, cutting through stormy seas under a gray-clouded sky. The artist who signed this painting “DGY,” has not been identified.
The Drenthe was a steamer of 2,296 tons, built at Newcastle, England in 1875. Her dimensions were 295 x 36 x 26 feet. From 1877 to 1883 Drenthe was owned by Ruys and Hoven at Rotterdam, the Netherlands, according to American Lloyd’s. They probably were the original owners, but this has not been verified. The house flag flying from the mainmast appears to be the same, or at least similar to, that of Ruys and Sons, of Rotterdam, ca: 1883, per Flags – National and Mercantile – House Flags and Funnels, published by Griffin and Co. Per Lloyd’s House Flags and Funnels, 1904, there was a company named Ruys and Zonen, in Rotterdam. The house flag was similar to that of Ruys and Sons. With these facts, we can reasonably date the painting from 1875 or later.
William Ruys started business in 1844. Over the years the company grew and used various names such as “Rotterdam Scheepvaart Maatschappij” (Wm. Ruys & Sons), “Rotterdamsche Lloyd” (Wm. Ruys & Zonen), “Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd” (Wm. Ruys & Zonen), and “Royal Rotterdam Lloyd,” among others. In 1961, their flag ship, the Willem Ruys was sold to the Chandris Line, which renamed it Achille Lauro. This was the ship hijacked by the Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1985.