A rare glimpse into 1800s Bermuda

Treasure: A painting of Flatt’s Inlet by Dr Johnson Savage, part of a donation to the National Museum. *Images courtesy of Johnson Savage MD Collection, National Museum of Bermuda 

Dr Arthur Savage’s unique collection of 39 watercolours depict scenes and traditional pastimes that have never been seen before in incredible detail and striking colour.

The album has just been donated to the National Museum by Dr Savage’s descendants in England, nearly 180 years after the paintings were drawn.

It contains dramatic panoramic and harbour views over St George’s, Paget, Harrington Sound and Somerset.

And the watercolours capture day-to-day activities such as whale processing, shipwreck salvage and boat repairs in an era before photography.

Indebted

Dr Edward Harris, director of the National Museum, told the Bermuda Sun the island was indebted to Dr Savage’s descendants for making the donation.

A panorama of St George’s.

He added: “The Johnson Savage MD Collection is a major addition to the national corpus of images of Bermuda before photography began to be used here generally in the 1860s.

“The Island is forever indebted to his great, great grandchildren, Peter, William and Jenifer for the donation of Dr Savage’s paintings of Bermuda in the period 1833 to 36.

“Plans are in hand for an exhibit of the images and a book that will contain them and the connection of three nineteenth century members of the Savage family with Bermuda in 2015, as signature events for the 40th anniversary of the National Museum.’

A painting of a ship salvage in Somerset.

The historical importance of the album is made even greater because there are so few works of art in existence illustrating
local life in Bermuda in the 1830s.

And Dr Savage in his collection of watercolours went out of his way to capture Bermudian pastimes and human interaction.

In particular the picture of the whaling station on Smith’s Island is believed to be the only one in existence in Bermuda from this time period.

While his paintings also focus on traditional pursuits such as selling fish and produce, tending cattle, collecting firewood and even soldiers gathering for a picnic under the Walsingham Calabash tree. 

Detail from a painting of Coney Island, Castle Harbour and Ferry Reach.

The talented artist behind the newly acquired collection of watercolours was a young surgeon in the Royal Artillery.

Dr Johnson Savage was posted to Bermuda in the early part of the 1830s and was stationed in St George’s for three years.

He spent much of his spare time travelling the length of the island capturing sites and scenes with his unique brand of black and white fine detail and striking landscape colours.

Dr Savage also painted many buildings that related to his medical work including the Royal Hospital at Ireland Island and the Royal Artillery Officers’ Quarters at St. George’s.

And he went to accumulate a huge collection of paintings from around the world during his time in the military.

His descendants also went on to play an important role in Bermuda’s history long after he had left the island in 1836.

His son, Midshipman Arthur Savage, wrote detailed logs of his two journeys to the Bermuda with the Royal Navy in 1961.

While Dr Savage’s grandson, Lieutenant Arthur Johnson Savage, carried out the first Ordnance Survey of the island in 1897.

Lieutenant Savage was a surveyor for the Royal Engineers and published his work on six sheets in 1901.

The detailed large-scale survey is still in use today.