Montague Dawson is regarded as one of the most prominent British nautical artists of the twentieth century. ‘Up Channel II’ is a clear example of Dawson’s interest in depicting portraits of eighteenth and nineteenth century clipper and warships and he was influenced by having spent a great deal of time surrounded by ships and the sea during his childhood.

Up Channel II depicts a stunning clipper ship in full sail encountering the force of the wind and the choppy sea. This is a beautiful portrait of a traditional sailing ship which is tall and elegant with intricate details of the rigged masts and billowing sails. Clipper ships became highly popular from the mid to late nineteenth century when they were used to race across the world’s oceans in order to transport tea from China. The tea trade was a very profitable business and a substantial bonus was given to the winning ship that arrived back in London with the first tea of the year.