On the train to Sydney recently I was reading Norman Lindsay’s autobiography My Mask.
One of the photos in the book was of Lindsay and his son Ray aboard the three masted sailing ship the Joseph Conrad, when it visited Sydney Harbour in December 1935. I must say the artist resembles a string bean in a suit!
The Australian writer and sailor Alan Villiers bought the British registered training ship, then called Georg Stage, in 1934, when it was headed for the scrapyard. He renamed it Joseph Conrad in honour of the famous author and one time merchant mariner. With a crew of cadets, Villiers set off on a marathon journey. The tiny ship travelled across the Atlantic to New York, down to Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town, across the Indian Ocean to the West Indies and on to Sydney.
Source – Telegraph (Brisbane) Dec. 11 1935)
In the following newspaper photo the fully rigged ship is pictured outside Sydney Heads.
SOURCE – Telegraph (Brisb.) December 20 1935
It was a huge attraction in Sydney and even the two onboard cats came in for attention. Mind you, Conrad (left) was lucky to see the harbour city as he once fell overboard.
Source – The Sun December 9 1935
Appropriately, the figurehead featured the carved head of Conrad.
SOURCE – markrogerbailey.com
Norman Lindsay was on board when Villiers was interviewed by The Sun. The latter told the reporter that dozens of women had written to him, asking to travel on the ship. However, he was not inclined to take them;
‘The Joseph Conrad is not a woman’s ship’, said Villiers, ‘ when another huge pile of fan mail was brough to his cabin today. The understanding Norman Lindsay , with his arm nonchalantly flung around a cabin pole, crisply added. ‘Oh course not. Women who write like that are merely building mental fantasies to play with.‘ (Sun, Dec. 12 1935)
Then off the pair went to enjoy cocktails.
Subsequently, Norman completed a detailed model of the ship, using the original plans, presumably supplied to him by Alan Villiers. You can even spot the carved figurehead.
He also painted a watercolour of the Joseph Conrad in Sydney, with a pilot ship nearby.
The Joseph Conrad survives to this day, and is a museum ship at Mystic Seaport, Connecticut;
As far as I am aware, Norman Lindsay’s model of the ship remains on display at his old home at Springwood.
Springwood, full of Norman Lindsay’s paintings, etchings and models of ships.
