Paint by Number: Craft Master Clipper Ship at Sea, Early Canvas Kit, Unframed, 16 x 12, USA, Vintage 1950 - SOLD

A tall clipper ship at full sail, painted from an early Craft Master kit on canvas. You can almost feel the wind and the movement of the sea.

• Maker: Craft Master
• Materials: Oil paint on soft canvas, unframed
• Dimensions: 16" x 12" (portrait)
• Origin: USA
• Era: Vintage 1950-1954
• Condition: Excellent; no issues noted. Please review photos closely before purchasing, as all sales are final.

This is a completed paint by number from one of the very early Craft Master kits, from before 1955, painted on canvas rather than the boards used for later kits. The colors are still in great condition, and whoever painted it, who appears to have signed it Gloria, did a great job. The canvas is unframed, so just add the frame you like and hang it.

A great piece of mid century art memorabilia and a perfect gift for a paint by number collector, or for a coastal or maritime room.

The paint by number kits we know today go back to 1949, when Dan Robbins, a package designer at the Palmer Paint Company in Detroit, proposed the idea to company owner Max Klein. A company called Picture Craft in Decatur, Illinois, had already sold similar sets, but buyers had to paint the canvas to find out what the picture was. It took Klein and Robbins almost two years to get the business going, and then it took off: the kits, sold under the Craft Master brand and painted on boards, were in stores like Macy's, and by 1954 Palmer had sold some twelve million of them. Craft Master was later renamed Craft House, and today Chartpak sells paint by number kits under that legacy brand.

Browse our shop for more vintage paint by number art and mid century wall decor to round out your collection.