The Maine, 1898

British-born Thomas F. Laycock was a Master in the US Navy during the Civil War and displayed artistic ability throughout his life: his drawing of the Bombardment of Fort Fisher, 15 January 1865, was the source for a widely-circulated, well-known lithograph published by Endicott & Co., New York, in 1865 (see lot 89 for Laycock's painting of this scene); in 1881, the Reno Evening Gazette noted, in reference to a recent oil painting, that "Laycock is certainly an artist" ("Art Notes," Reno Evening Gazette, 17 May 1881). Prior to his death on 8 August 1898, Laycock displayed a painting of the Battleship Maine (likely the present lot) in several Los Angeles shops, where he was selling raffle tickets for a chance to win the artwork. Following his passing, however, Laycock's widow brought a suit against the man who collected and subsequently spent the lottery ticket proceeds on "family and in drinks at the bar" ("He Must Pay Up The Money," Los Angeles Herald, vol. 25, no. 324, 20 August 1898, p. 12).

The armored second-class Battleship USS Maine, commissioned in 1885, represented the latest in innovative design when constructed at the Brooklyn Naval Yard. Sent to Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898 as a show of force during the Cuban Revolt vs. Spain, she mysteriously exploded and sank, killing most of her crew. The cause was never determined (most probably an internal magazine explosion), but the event helped lead to the Spanish American War and with the slogan “Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain," the loss of the Maine was used to incite political support for the War.