View of the Port of Hull with the 'Spartan'
Chambers began earning his living at the age of eight, holding coal bags open for miners to fill. At sixteen he went to sea on a Humber Keel. On board he showed great aptitude for painting shipsâ timbers and decorating buckets and other fittings. An early talent recognised, he became apprentice to a house and ship painter. Greatly acclaimed in his life-time, the pinnacle of Chambersâ career was gaining the patronage of King William IV. He was to die young, aged thirty-seven. The Ferens owns the only two known works of Hull by Chambers. This is the only signed and dated oil. As a Whitby artist he was invited to Hull to paint the Whitby-built brig, the âSpartanâ. The vessel was made in the yard of Thomas Brodrick. Chambersâ painting shows the ship in two different views, a common practice in ship portraiture.
