Posner Maritime Art Collection
SY Rhouma
Artist unknown
Oil on canvas
This painting of the Steam Yacht (S.Y.) Rhouma is by an amateur hand, but is none-the-less charming, and signed only with initials: “A.M.” The S.Y. Rhouma was built at Glasgow in 1893 by Napier, Shanks, & Bell. Her official Number was 102379, and she was 456 net tons. She measured 221 feet in length and was a steel hulled screw steamer with schooner rig. She was owned by Sir George Bullough, Kinloch Castle, Isle of Rum, Scotland. According to Lloyd’s Register of Yachts, 1904-05, her home port was Greenock, Scotland, near the mouth of the Clyde River. She was formerly named, and probably built, as the S.Y. Maria.
If you compare the height of the male figures (6 feet) on deck vs. the length of the vessel, you can calculate that the yacht is roughly 224 feet in length. Add the schooner rig (2 masts) and this compares well with the 221 feet and rig of the yacht mentioned above. The flags displayed confirm that this is in fact, the Steam Yacht Rhouma. The flag on the mainmast is that of the Royal Thames Yacht Club. The flag on the foremast is the personal flag of Sir George Bullough. He must have been quite rich, as he had five yachts and belonged to four different yacht clubs: Royal Thames, Royal Clyde, Campbeltown, and Royal Bombay Yacht Clubs. His five yachts were the S.Y. Rhouma, (812 tons gross); the wooden cutters Isa (2 tons), Morna (2 tons), Mystery (2 tons), and S.Y. Kinloch (18 tons). All of the yachts were kept at Greenock, except Mystery, which was kept at Cowles, Isle of Wight.
We don’t know much about the painter “A.M.,” except that they probably were an amateur or non-professional, and so it’s doubtful that Sir George Bullough would have commissioned this painting.