American Art Collaborative

Francis William Edmonds was a banker who, uncertain of his artistic abilities, painted and exhibited for many years under the pseudonym "E.F. Williams." "Commodore Trunnion and Jack Hatchway" was the first canvas shown under Edmonds's name, and was widely considered equal to the work of the great American genre painter, William Sidney Mount. The scene is taken from an 18th-century English novel by Tobias Smollet, "The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle," in which Jack Hatchway learns from the newspaper that the Commodore's rival, Admiral Bower, has been designated a peer of the realm. The setting has been moved from the original tavern to the Commodore's workroom, and Edmonds chose the quiet moment just before Jack happens upon the bad news. The skillfully rendered flagon in its straw casing, the pewter tankard, and the block and tackle reflect Edmonds's admiration for the 17th-century Dutch tradition of still-life and genre painting.