BHC1558

Merchant Service Fireman Long Caption: This image portrays a merchant stoker working at the open door of a boiler. A fireman, known as a stoker in the Navy, needed to feed five tons of coal a day into the ship's furnace. The space is confined, dark and hot, emphasized by the sleeveless top of the sailor. The heat of the boiler is conveyed by the glow from the furnace, which illuminates the man's arm and front, and the large bell behind the ladder. The only light shines from the bulkhead to the right. The artist has emphasized the feeling of being in the depths of the ship by the use of a vertical ladder, down which another sailor descends, and the rope ladder hanging to the right. Credit line: © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London Object: BHC1558 Artist: Henry Marvell Carr Date: 1942 Medium: oil on canvas Size: 1274 mm x 9150 mm Click here to buy a bespoke print of this image.