China Trade Portrait of an American Merchant Ship, circa 1875.           Oil on canvas; depicting a ship under full sail approaching the coast of China with Junks in the distance.                30 in. x 44 in.

The American China Trade flourished post-Revolution, with privateers re-fitting their warships for commerce. Early on, the most profitable China Trade cargoes were Spanish bullion, Appalachian ginseng, and furs. In the next 100 years, cotton would eclipse them all!

Watercolor on paper, Portrait of the Ship Anne, with legend at base "The Anne of Philadelphia, John W. Miercken Commander, Leaving Irieste 20^th February, 1822"            17 ½ in. x 24 in.

Rare Handmade Fereghan Sarouk Carpet, circa 1890 12 x 16.3 (detail)  

Highly prized for its intricacy of design and exceptional craftsmanship, this Fereghan Sarouk  with  spectacular lobed medallion, blossom and vine motif  represents the best of Sarouk production, likely from Fereghan, or among the nearby villages of Arak.

Descended of Thomas Macy & Richard Swain, who were among Nantucket's earliest English settlers, Wendell Macy was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts; the son of Josiah and Eliza Swain Macy. He married Rachel Parker, daughter of Elisha and Elizabeth Gardiner Parker of Nantucket. The couple lived in New Bedford during the late 60's and early 70's, where Macy worked for a firm that specialized in nautical instruments. Eventually he opened an art studio with L. B. Ellis Fine Art. It is likely his earliest works were portraits.

To date there has been no evidence of exactly where Wendell Macy may have studied his craft. He worked in "crayon," (pastels) his preference for portraiture, and composed marine and coastal 'scapes in oil on board. Eventually, the Macys took up a livelihood of summering on Nantucket, where Macy wasted no time in securing a means of exhibition.  In 1872, the Inquirer & Mirror offers the earliest record of Macy's Nantucket work, exhibited "at Miss Mary P. Swain's store." In the following decades, Macy's skill as an artist combined with his acute entrepreneurial aptitude enabled an immediate following among summer visitors.

His were portable paintings, often done on wooden door panels, chamfered at the edges and conveniently not requiring frames.  Macy was both prolific and pragmatic in portraying Nantucket's landmarks, steamboats, seascapes, and Quaint street scenes. Presented in his sophisticated 2nd floor Main Street salon, each would be the perfect souvenir for travelers, while being an historically relevant telling of the Island's unique cultural fabric.

Nantucket's autumn Agricultural Fairs offered Macy additional exhibition opportunity: sheep shearing, husbandry, fish drays and kelp harvesting activities colored charming genre scenes of a rapidly disappearing populace.  Soon enough, the aspiring artist and business man had forged alliances as Vice President and President of the Atheneum, and as Trustee for the NHA.

But Wendell Macy was perhaps most admired for his dramatic portrayals of maritime tragedy. During the last quarter of the 19th century, Nantucket's South Shore was frequently amuck with ship wrecks. The spectacle of rescued cargo and crew became a popular attraction for all - especially so for the growing artists colony.  Macy utilized dominant shadows, brooding skies, and a preference for great, crashing waves against dwarfed figures to articulate unfolding drama.  These works eventually found their way to exhibition at the Smithsonian's Corcoran Gallery of Art, in Washington, DC, and to the permanent collections the likes of the New Bedford Whaling Museum and the Nantucket Historical Association.

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