The three-masted, gaff-rigged lougre – or ‘bisquine’ in the Norman dialect – featured a large barrelled hull designed to take a sizeable haul and was mainly used in Normandy and the Pas-de-Calais during the 19th century.
Daubigny’s painting, signed and titled Loading a ‘lougre’ at low tide, Normandy, was shown at the Paris Salon in 1875 – the same year the artist stood in for his elderly father, the well-known Barbizon painter Charles-François Daubigny, as one of the pallbearers at Camille Corot’s funeral.
The picture is one of the highlights in a selling exhibition of marine art on the north coast of Norfolk by London gallery John Mitchell Fine Paintings. Call of the Sea – Four Centuries of Marine Painting, which runs until August 26 at The Boathouse in Burnham Overy Staithe, features a selection of works of ships, seascapes and maritime life, from British 18th century watercolours to French Impressionist seascapes.
As well as Daubigny, artists include Willem van de Velde, Samuel Atkins, Robert and John Cleveley, Dominic Serres, Julius Caesar Ibbetson and Martinus Schouman, with prices ranging from £950-22,500.
