Mrs William Collister (nee Catherine Christian)
Date made: 1922
Artist: Bradshaw, Joseph Cecil
Description: Catharine Collister was the wife of William Collister, Coxwain of the first 'pulling' (rowing) lifeboat, to come to the Isle of Man. William Collister was based at the Port Erin Station of the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI). He and his crew were responsible for many rescues from ships wrecked off the south coast of the Isle of Man. He was coxswain from 1883-1896.
The couple were married in 1864 and lived at Myrtle House, Port Erin. They had four daughters, one of whom, Annie Karran, died alongside her two children in the influenza epidemic of 1919. Catharine Collister died in 1921, and this portrait must have been completed in her memory in 1922.There is also a portrait of William Collister in the collection, also by J. Cecil Bradshaw. William died aged 85 years in 1927. He was a fisherman and boatman by trade.
Jospeh Cecil Bradshaw was a highly skilled portrait painter and photographer, who moved to the Isle of Man from Manchester with his brother John Champion Bradshaw. It is not clear how Jospeh Bradshaw came to paint the rather humble Collisters, although he was interested in capturing the Manx fishing industry and photographing people connected to the trade. It is possible the paintings were commissioned from a photograph taken by Bradshaw, after the death of Collister’s wife in 1921.
Measurements: unframed artwork: 87 cm x 66 cm
Materials: oil on canvas
Object name: painting
Collection: Art Collection
ID number: 1960-0495
Subject tags : #artgalleryjourneys