The USS DELAWARE (1820)
with the Celebrated
Tamanend Figurehead
.....Attributed to
Thomas Chambers

American, ca. 1830–1845. Oil on canvas

A commanding and visually arresting portrayal of the famed United States ship-of-the-line USS Delaware, among the most powerful warships of the early American Navy. Destroyed during the Civil War, the Delaware occupies a distinguished place in American naval history. Most significant of all was her extraordinary Native American carved figurehead, the Tamanend that survives today as one of the best-known symbols of the United States Naval Academy.

Possibly depicted in the waters of Chesapeake Bay or Annapolis Roads, the immense three-deck warship dominates the harbor beneath a luminous sky of towering clouds, her black-and-white hull rising majestically from animated green waters. The painting possesses everything collectors seek in the finest works by Thomas Chambers: dramatic atmosphere, strong color, intricate rigging, sparkling water, and a uniquely American fusion of folk-art directness and romantic ambition.

Launched at Norfolk in 1820, the Delaware represented the culmination of the United States Navy's first great age of sail. Rated at seventy-four guns and carrying three full gun decks, she was among the largest and most formidable warships constructed for the young republic. Throughout the 1820s and 1830s she served as flagship, diplomatic ambassador, and visible symbol of American power abroad, her presence in foreign ports proclaiming the growing confidence of the United States on the world stage. Particularly significant is the extraordinary figurehead.

Carved shortly after the Delaware's launch by William Luke at the Norfolk (Gosport) Navy Yard, the figurehead represented Tamanend, the revered Indian leader whose name became closely associated to the State of Delaware itself. Few surviving naval figureheads possess such an enduring symbolic importance. When the Norfolk Navy Yard was evacuated in 1861, the Delaware was burned to prevent her capture by Confederate forces. The great ship was destroyed, but her remarkable figurehead was salvaged. In 1866 it was transferred to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, where generations of Midshipmen came to know it, incorrectly, as "Tecumseh".

Weathered by decades outdoors, in 1930 the original carving was replaced by a bronze-cast presented by the Naval Academy Class of 1891. To maintain a spiritual connection to the icon, fragments and pieces of the original wooden statue's "heart and brains" were placed inside the hollow bronze. Today, midshipmen throw pennies at the bronze version for good luck before exams and paint it in themes before major rival football games. The original Tamanend carved figurehead still survives today, preserved indoors at the United States Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis (Preble Hall). It is one of the most famous relics of the early United States Navy.

The distinctive Tamanend figurehead provides compelling evidence for identifying the vessel as the USS Delaware. Additional support is found in the ship's immense scale, three-deck armament, stern architecture, naval ensigns, and overall configuration. Paintings became among the few surviving visual records of America's greatest sailing warships. The survival and later fame of the Tamanend figurehead make this painting an unusually important record of both a lost vessel and one of the most honored artifacts in United States naval history.

Today Thomas Chambers stands among the most admired and sought-after painters in American folk art, his finest works represented in major museum and private collections. Chambers painted numerous ships, but comparatively few can be linked with confidence to a vessel of such historical importance. Combined with its strong provenance, impressive scale, and commanding visual presence, this is a notable Chambers’ work. It is the sort of Americana that anchors a collection rather than merely joins one.

Excellent condition with minor touchup. Cleaned, relined, and mounted on a new stretcher. Period, perhaps original gilt frame. Frame size approximately 35¼ x 26½ inches; sight size approximately 29½ x 20½ inches.

Provenance: Sam Herrup; Jeffrey Tillou; Private Massachusetts Collection.