Charles Jones, Setauket Bayman

Edward Lange (1846-1912), Charles Jones' Sloop, 1882, Watercolor and lead pencil on paper, 14.5 x 17 in. (unframed); 18 x 20.4375 in. (framed), Preservation Long Island purchase, 2010.4

Baymen spent dozens of hours a week aboard their boats dredging and raking for shellfish. This portrait of Charles Jones of Setauket, emphasizes the strong connection between baymen and their vessels. His body language projects self-assurance as he leans against his sloop's boom, smoking a pipe and posing alongside oystering equipment. Many of Lange's patrons commissioned artwork of their most valued holdings, generally pieces of property with its associated residence and out buildings. In Jones's portrait, he replaced landholdings and a house with his oyster sloop—suggesting the significance of the boat to his livelihood and identity.

(left) Detail, Edward Lange, Charles Jones' Sloop, 1882; (right) Oyster dredge, Collection of the Long Island Maritime Museum

Notice the oyster dredge Lange included on the deck of Jones's ship. It was an indispensible tool in a bayman's work and instantly recognizable to a nineteenth-century audience. The composition of the piece and details Lange chose to include all inform the message that this artwork sends about Jones and his life.

Edward Lange (1846-1912), Sketchbook, n.d., Lead pencil and India ink on paper, 4.625 x 7.125 x .125 in. (overall), Huntington Historical Society

Lange's fascination with watercraft is abundantly evident within the pages of his sketchbook. Faint pencilstrokes outline schooners, sloops, tugs, and other vessels from all angles—their rigging and forms meticulously translated to the page with Lange's characteristic eye for detail. We can begin to imagine the artist sitting on the dock, sketchbook in hand, eagerly watching boats of all shapes, sizes, and forms mingling in the water before him.