Your post has lead to another exciting discovery, but the Mobile Museum has not yet located the painting you referenced. Would you please provide source information on the book you referenced. Send me an email and I will for the Alabama Heritage article, if interested.
Below are email communications with the museum as the hunt is on - it will be an nice discovery thanks to your assistance.
Thanks for the help!
Rob Swinson
reswinson@cox.net
EMAILS:
Attached is an exciting discovery! Whoever made the attached illustration published in Alabama Heritage is the same person who made my "Hunley 1863" watercolor. The search is on at the Mobile Museum for their original which I understand uses the same colors for the uniforms.
Pretty neat, huh?
Rob
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: Confederate Submarine 'Hunley 1863' Watercolor
Date: Thu, 19 May 2011 14:59:52 -0500
From: Lori Rockhold <rockholdl@cityofmobile.org>
To: Rob Swinson <reswinson@cox.net>
Hi Mr. Swinson,
I am on the hunt for the original version that should be in our collection. No luck through database searches for the title or similar titles yet however I did come across a piece of an article from Alabama Heritage that we have a photocopy of that shows the image, or a similar one, I believe you are looking for. It is referred to as a "primitive sketch" with unknown origins. I am attaching a scanned copy of the two pages of the article I have. It gives copyright notations to the Submarine Force Library and Museum.
I hope this is helpful and I will continue looking. I will be out of the office tomorrow but will be back with you as soon as I find more information about the image.
Lori A. McDuffie
Museum Technician
Museum of Mobile
(251) 208-7693
Preserving the Past for the Future
-----Original Message-----
From: Rob Swinson [mailto:reswinson@cox.net]
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2011 2:33 PM
To: Lori Rockhold
Subject: Re: Confederate Submarine 'Hunley 1863' Watercolor
Lori. Here is the post from an Internet site about a painting reportedly in your collection:
I kept looking at that painting ["Hunley 1863"] and I had thought I had seen it before. It took me awhile to remember where I saw it and it's in my collection of books. It is ALMOST an exact copy of one that exisit in the Mobile City Museum collection. The difference is the one in the Moble Museum has eleven men driving the propeller, the vessel is longer and the mens feet are touching the deck and their heads are near the overhead, and the Ebay one has cruder details. They both have the same drawing style down to the uniforms and shadowing, you can tell either were both done by the same person with the larger one being a bit better than the other or the smaller Ebay one was crudely copied from the other.
The Mobile Museum states that theirs is titled "C.S.S. Hunley, A fanciful Yankee conjecture".
Thank you for the assistance.
Rob Swinson
Wichita, KS
316-262-1922
On 5/19/2011 10:06 AM, Lori Rockhold wrote:
> Good Morning Mr. Swinson,
>
> I enjoyed looking at the images of your watercolor. It is a very well done
> piece. Congratulations on the find!
>
> I have attached a photo of our oil painting that is currently on exhibit.
> It was done much later then I had remembered - 1979, by Ralph Andrew
> Richards, Jr., a famed local artist. I have also attached a photo of a
> cut-away model that is in our collection as well that will give you an idea
> of the true shape of the Hunley and the crew positioning.
>
> Shea McLean was one of the main team members that worked to recover and
> raise the Hunley. He currently is the curator at the USS Alabama Battleship
> docked in Mobile Bay and may be better suited to answer any questions you
> may have regarding the Hunley. His email is
> smclean@ussalabama.com. I hope I have helped in your search and we thank
> you for your interest in the Museum of Mobile's collection. Have a great
> day.
>
> Lori A. McDuffie
> Museum Technician
> Museum of Mobile
> (251) 208-7693
> Preserving the Past for the Future
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Swinson [mailto:reswinson@cox.net]
> Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2011 9:28 AM
> To: Lori
> Subject: Confederate Submarine 'Hunley 1863' Watercolor
>
>
> Lori.
>
> Attached are some pictures of my watercolor - "Hunley 1863" - we
> discussed. Looking forward to hearing back from you about your "C.S.S.
> Hunley" oil painting.
>
> Thank you for any information you are able to provide.
>
> Rob Swinson
>
> Robert E. "Rob" Swinson
> reswinson@cox.net
>
>
>
--
Robert E. "Rob" Swinson