Lance Calkin - Burning of the Goliath, Lance Calkin, 1898

Calkin (1859-1936) was inspired by an accident that occurred on december 22, 1875 on the thames. The wooden school-boat which housed around 500 orphaned or disadvantaged boys was completely destroyed by a fire caused by the fall of an oil lamp. One adult and twenty children perished. The painting represents the scene in which a boy named mudkin begged captain william sutherland bourchier to flee, but he only wanted to leave the ship last. The painting was acquired by the illustrated london weekly "the graphic", which published it as a chromolithograph, as a supplement to its christmas 1898 issue. Captain bouchiere's face in the picture is in fact lance's father george. Reference 71 x 92 cm. Private collection. Object Type: print. Date: 1898. Medium: lithograph.