A  RARE & SPLENDID  NAVAL  AQUATINT

[ THE  ACTION  OFF  CAPE  HENRY ~ 17 MAY 1795 ]

Original hand coloured aquatint with engraved remarque. Slight foxing & aging
Reverse painted black lacquer & gilt glass, Period giltwood & plaster frame.
I. Wells & R. Pollard after Nicholas Pocock. London, Pocock 1801

This magnificent aquatint of the famous naval engagement off Cape Henry (Chesapeake Bay, Virginia.) during the Napoleonic wars is dedicated below the image ‘ To  Captn.the Hon. bleA.F. Cochrane of  His Majesty’s  Ship THETIS. Captain Bereseord   [sic] of the HUSSAR ,  Her Officers , Seamen & Marines of their respective  ships this representation  of their action.with five sail  (2 of which were taken  3 escaped ) of French  ships   of war near Cape Henry , 17 June  1795.[sic]...  Pocock .’    Further details of the action are given below the image surrounding the remarque, thanks to the engraving skills of Robert Pollard (1755-1838), who was the last surviving member of the Incorporated Society of Artists. Even in 1897 his prints were in considerable request, despite the fact that in this image there are two engraving mistakes; (the incident actually took place on 17 May 1795 and the Captain of the Hussar was John Poo Beresford).
Original, individual plate, commemorative aquatints of this nature dipicting engagements in North American waters are particularly collectable and increasingly hard to find, this fine example being in its original frame & glass.

Plate 19 x 251/2"        (48.3 X 64.7 cm.)     Frame 281/4 x 35"       PRICE CODE G   Click Here for Pricing Details
ReF.LRA 1072/DANN/lanna AOOL  SOLD

Nicholas Pocock (1740 - 1821), Son of a Bristol merchant, He began his career serving at sea commanding a number of ships and illustrating his log books until 1778 at the age of 40, he decided to concentrate on painting. A regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy. He is acknowledged as helping to establish the British Maritime painting tradition, and as such was a founding member of the Old Watercolour Society. He painted views of dockyards, merchant ships and harbours but is best known as the successor to Serres as the prime recorder of naval actions. First hand observation or eyewitness accounts of actions, gained him knowledge resulting in attention to detail,and in turn brought him discriminating patrons. He was particularly adept at conveying action and movement and was also able to produce panoramic aerial views of battles.
Pollard we have mentioned above, and we can find no trace of the aquatinter I. Wells

 

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D. Lerpiniere after Richard Paton

[The Battle of the Saints, 12 April 1782
– breaking the line.] 

Hand tinted  Late impression after Boydell engraving 1783, matted, glazed,  mahogany and gilt liner frame
19 1/4 x 25 3/4 ( 48.9 x 65.4 cm. ) inc letters.   Frame: 31 3/4 x 42 1/4"
 Ref. BW2/ANN/ d.ando> LLN      PRICE CODE C

To Lord Rodney, AdmL of the White, Lord  Hood, Sir Francis Samuel Drake Bart Rear Admrl of the Blue, Sir Richard Affleck Bart. Commodore. The several Captains and Officers, This representation of His Majesty's fleet under their command breaking the line of the French fleet under the command of Admiral Count de Grasseon the 12 April 1782  which was followed by a glorious & decisive victory. 

For this action off the Saintes (or Saints), a group of islands between Guadeloupe and Dominica in the West Indies, which forced the French and Spanish to abandon a planned invasion of Jamaica, the fleet received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament.  English and French forces are tabulated to either side. The moment shown is that of around quarter past nine in the morning when Rodney broke through the French line of battle. At centre-left, his flagship ‘Formidable’, identifiable by her St. George’s cross at the main, is flanked by two further British three-deckers, most probably ‘Namur’, 90 guns, and ‘Duke’ 98 guns – the only other vessels that large in Rodney’s central squadron. 

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