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The Flying Boat

The Flying Boat pub on Spital Street in Dartford town centre is a grade 2 listed building. Although sympathetically restored to its former glory, it has in fact changed little architecturally over the decades and originally took its name from the period when it was used as a workshop to make floats for Sunderland flying boat patrol bombers.

In the 1950’s the building changed hands and it became a motor showroom selling cars that were rather commonplace at the time but which are now considered to be highly desirable. The luxuriousness of the Rolls Royce Wraith seen here is a somewhat tongue in cheek gesture to the name and is reminiscent of the building’s links to the automotive industry. Note the admiring glance it receives from a lady passer-by.

So, you may ask, why a Wraith and not a Ford Fiesta? Well, the choice was purely by design and not accident. Rolls Royce manufactured just 350 of these classic automobiles, and the elegance of the car’s flowing shape together with the authentic two-tone nature of the paintwork blends beautifully with its surrounds and contributes much to the narrative.

Incidentally, a framed print of The Flying Boat was donated to The Mayoress of Dartford, Eija Burrell, who held a charity auction in May 2017 and exhibited the artwork at The Peter Blake Gallery.

THE PRINT

This signed print is one of a limited edition. It’s recorded on Hahnemühle stock via a large format mimeograph and generally referred to as Giclée prints of premium quality. The paper is white 100% a-cellulose with a distinct textured surface and the premium matt inkjet coating more than meets the highest industry standards vis-à-vis density, colour gamut, colour graduation and image sharpness, while preserving the extraordinary touch and feel of genuine art paper. The editions depicted on Iconic Reserve are not representative of scale and solely for the purpose of suggestive display.

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£175

Signed limited edition
1 of 250, 420mm x 597mm
Recorded on Hahnemühle
Dartford collection

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