Portrait of a seated woman, possibly Helen Dorothy Sterling
Samuel J Hood Studioc 1913
Australian National Maritime Museum
Sydney, Australia
This photograph depicts a young woman seated wearing a lace embroidered dress. It is possible that this woman is American shipowner Captain Edward Robert Sterling's daughter Helen Dorothy Sterling (known as Dorothy). There is very little information available about Sterling's third child, though the 1910 United States Federal Census states that she was born in 1896 in Massachusetts.
It is possible that this photograph was taken in the saloon on board the six-masted barquentine E R STERLING. The saloon on E R STERLING was considered state-of-the-art for its day. According to the 'Cairns Post', it moved beyond 'cramped quarters' and 'hurricane lamps' to a player piano and a gramophone, which the ship's owner Captain Edward Robert Sterling had concealed in the room's centre table. It was an 'ingenious combination' of music and dining table.
- Title: Portrait of a seated woman, possibly Helen Dorothy Sterling
- Creator: Samuel J Hood Studio
- Date: c 1913
- Location: Sydney
- Type: Nitrate negative
- Significance: This image is part of a series of photographs by Samuel J Hood that relates to American shipowner Captain Edward Robert Sterling and his fleet of sailing ships. The photographs depict family, friends and crew on board the American vessels and contrast with the sad fate that befell the Sterling Line. The images demonstrate a time when ships’ portraits were popular among crew members, before steam superseded sail and the demand for Hood’s portraiture declined.
- See institution's online collections: http://www.anmm.gov.au/collections
- Medium: Emulsion on nitrate film.
- Credit line: ANMM Collection
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