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Lot Essay
Noël Coward first visited Jamaica in 1944 on a two week holiday. Four years later he stayed at Ian Fleming's estate while he searched for a property: 'We discussed over drinks the possibility of building a shack ... and how wonderful it would be to have such an idyllic bolt-hole to return to when life became too frustrating' (see C. Lesley, The Life of Noël Coward, London, 1976, p. 263). Coward built a series of houses commanding amazing coastal views which he named Blue Harbour. Later he built Firefly as a retreat on a deserted tract of land above Blue Harbour.
The present work depicts the view from Firefly towards Port Maria. Cole Lesley in his biography of Coward describes the view; 'spread before you is a ravishing view of the sea, with Port Maria Bay to the right, the small town almost hidden by coco-palm and banana plantations ... and above all this beauty is the long range of the Blue Mountains ... sometimes almost purple, always blue' (loc.cit.).
The present work depicts the view from Firefly towards Port Maria. Cole Lesley in his biography of Coward describes the view; 'spread before you is a ravishing view of the sea, with Port Maria Bay to the right, the small town almost hidden by coco-palm and banana plantations ... and above all this beauty is the long range of the Blue Mountains ... sometimes almost purple, always blue' (loc.cit.).