Tall ships under full sail
Full Sail shows a three-masted square-rigger with every sail set, her bow pushing up a white wave. Running Before the Wind brings a square-rigger towards you over a white-crested sea. Homeward Bound heads for a low coast in late-afternoon light, with gulls in her wake. A tall ship, in the dictionary sense, is any square-rigged sailing ship.
Schooners and brigs
The Schooner is a two-masted wooden schooner reaching across a sparkling sea under fore-and-aft sails. Brig at Dawn is a two-masted square-rigger on a calm sea, her sails catching apricot light.
Working boats
Red Sails is a traditional sailing barge on a wide estuary. Our guide to Thames sailing barges explains why real ones had flat bottoms and rust-red sails. The Old Gaffer is a gaff-rigged wooden cutter with tan sails and a long bowsprit. Tall Ship in Harbour rests at a stone quay, her sails furled on the yards.
A short history of ship portraits
Ship painting has deep roots in Britain. Royal Museums Greenwich traces it to a Dutch father and son, the Van de Veldes, who settled in England in the 1670s. Their studio, it says, made marine painting an important strand of British art. Our journal piece on why we keep portraits of our boats picks up that story, and famous sea paintings tells you where to see the great pictures.
Sizes and frames
Every print here is printed portrait. Full Sail, Running Before the Wind and The Old Gaffer are tall pictures, so you get the whole scene, and they suit a narrow wall or a stairwell. The other five are wide scenes, trimmed at the sides to fit; each product page shows exactly what you get at the size you pick. A black frame suits the stormier scenes; natural wood suits the dawn and harbour pieces. The largest poster is 70x100 cm, big enough for a chimney breast; the sizes guide has the rest.
Ship prints as gifts
A ship print suits someone who reads naval history, visits tall ship festivals or sails a classic boat. See our sailing gifts for men and nautical gifts. For the boat they own, start with a print of their own boat.