By 1826 the Maritime Provinces had reached their first great peak in shipbuilding: 330 vessels were built. This water colour of the Brig James is one of the earliest paintings of a named Maritime vessel.
The brig was one of the most popular rigs of that period. The vessel has two masts, fore and main. Both are square rigged. The sails on the fore mast are (starting at the bottom): fore sail, fore topsail, fore topgallant and fore royal. The sails on the main mast are: main sail, main topsail, main topgallant and main royal.
This brig is technically a snow, a special type of brig which carried a trysail mast, directly behind the main mast and on which was set a gaff - a fore and aft sail. The small sails set on the topsails and topgallants are called stundding sails, set to catch the light breezes on the weather side of the vessel. The James was built in 1826 at Ship Harbour (now Port Hawkesbury) by Peter Broinard and owned by Thoum, Moullin and Co. of Guernsey. The vessel was registered in Sydney, Nova Scotia in 1826 and subsequently registered at Guernsey. Note the Moullin house flag M on the top of the fore royal and the mock gunports painted on the hull. The painting is dated 1828.
