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gouache on paper, signed in the lower right Raffaele Corsini, with Bark Smyrniote 1861 inscribed in lower center. In original frame under glass; 18.75` x 25.25` (sight), 22` x 28` (w/frame). This painting descended directly in the family of Marquis Niccolo Reggio (1810-1867), one of the most powerful merchants in the Boston area in the period preceding the Civil War. Marquis Reggio was born in Smyrna, Turkey to an influential family and established himself in Boston as merchant-shipowner around 1830, capitalizing on the opportunity to both market their exports in Boston and import American goods. Reggio, along with another Armenian from Smyrna, Joseph Iasigi, became powerful citizens as a result of this trade and thus developed a friendly competition. An excerpt from The Maritime History of Massachusetts by Samuel Eliot Morison describes Reggio`s fastest ship Smyrniote: `Rivalry for each new crop of figs between the houses of Reggio and Iasigi led to a competitive building of swift barques. Iasigi & Goddard`s Osmanli, painted in the port of Smyrna by a local artist, is here shown; in the clipper ship era the Reggios` Smyrniote was only surpassed by Iasigi`s Race Horse, which also distinguished herself in the San Francisco trade.` See Morison, 1979, p.291-293. Raffaele Corsini (Turkish, 1830-1880), marine painter, is the local artist mentioned by Morrison. Corsini made his career depicting the various ships that frequented the port of Smyrna, and he played no favorites between the Reggio and Iasigi families. The bark Osmanli was also portrayed by Corsini, as well as other ships from American merchants. It comes as no surprise that several of these works have surfaced in the United States, given the nature of the business. The work presented here is the first depiction of the Smyrniote that has surfaced, and was likely commissioned by Niccolo Reggio himself.

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