SPRAGUE, Howard F. (American, 1871-1899). Zach Chandler. Ca. 1890. Oil on canvas. Born in 1871, Sprague was by far the youngest of the Great Lakes artists working during the late 1880's and 1890's.?His?paintings are exceptionally direct and centered on three simple elements: water, sky, and ship. The ship was always center, large, technically accurate, and central. The present example, of the lumber schooner Zach Chandler, must be dated to somewhere between 1889 and its shipwreck off Deer Island in October of 1892.?The iconic Michigan lumber ship was named after Zachariah Chandler [1813-1879], one of the founders of the Republican Party, a lifelong abolitionist, Mayor of Detroit, senator for the State of Michigan, and Secretary of the Interior under President Ulysses S. Grant.?Nearly all Sprague's ship paintings of this period were painted in this exact 17 x 30 format.?Lined. Restoration by Baumgartner Fine Art (label verso). Inpainting in sections of the sky and sails. Frame has plaster sections missing. Good condition. 17 x 30". Frame 24 ? x 37 ?".