Antonio Jacobsen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and after
studying realism at the Royal Academy in Copenhagen, he moved to America to
avoid being drafted into the Franco-Prussian War. Jacobsen was America’s
premier ship portraitist and was commissioned by sea captains and ship owners
to paint their vessels. Nearly every ship that sailed in and out of New York
Harbor between 1873 and 1919 was chronicled by Jacobsen. Although he was
prolific, paintings by him of this size are much less common. Jacobsen’s style
is often, though not exclusively, characterized by a flattened perspective. He
had a complete understanding of ships and achieved great accuracy of detail in
his works.

The Bransford was built in West Bay City, Michigan in 1902.
Just a year later, and after Jacobsen painted it, the steamer was stranded on a
reef in a severe wind and snowstorm known as the Mataafa Storm off Isle Royale
on Lake Superior. It was reconstructed in 1921 and used as a crane vessel until
it was sold for scrap in 1974.