Description

Robert Charles Dudley’s View, Looking Aft, from the Port Paddle Box of the Great Eastern (1865–66) is a poignant watercolor that captures a moment aboard the pioneering steamship Great Eastern. The scene looks aft from the ship’s port paddle box, revealing a long trough designed to hold the transatlantic telegraph cable—a symbol of 19th-century ambition and technological prowess. Figures stand poised atop the vessel, dwarfed by its industrial scale, evoking a sense of solemnity and determination. Dudley’s careful use of gouache and graphite adds both technical clarity and atmospheric depth, highlighting the weight of historical achievement and human resilience.