Lot Essay
Both long panoramic views show scenes in Spain during the Peninsula War. The first is probably taken from the Azete Heights, looking north towards San Sebastian, behind which rises Monte Urgull surmounted by the Castillo de la Mota seen across the semi-circular bay of La Concha, protected from the open sea by the Isla de Santa Clara; on the left is Monte Igueldo. The seige of San Sebastian began on 6 July 1813 on the arrival of Spanish, Portugese and English forces under General Graham; on 7 July the 5th Division established itself on the Azete Heights facing the French redoubt San Bartolomé at the southern end of the narrow isthmus running south from San Sebastian. A naval force under Sir George Collier, whose frigate Survaillante may be the vessel portrayed in La Concha. Wellington arrived and overlooked the scene from Monte Ulia on 12 July, as indicated by the pencil inscription over the number (in ink) '16'. San Bartolomé fell to the allies on 17 July but the main assault on the earlier sea walls of San Sebastian across the mouth of the Urumea failed. Bad news on the progress of the war in the western Pyrenees diverted Wellington's attention but, after the defeat of Marshall Soult on 30 July, the seige was renewed, with fresh arrivals of ships and guns. A massive bombardment was begun on 26 August and on 31 August the town was stormed; the castle on Monte Urgueil was surrendered by General Rex on 8 September.
The second landscape is not inscribed except for the numbers but probably shows the view looking south from Monte Ulia with the Urumea on the left. The ruined buildings in the foreground on the right are probably those of the suburb of San Martin at the foot of the Azete Heights and just north of San Bartolomé; at the beginning of the seige they were already 'roofless and partly fallen down' (see Charles Oman, A History of the Peninsular War, VI, 1922, pp.562 ff., and VII, 1930, pp.8 ff., for an account of the sieges and topography of San Sebastian in 1813).
The attribution to the amateur artist Major, later Major-General T.S.St. Clair, who joined the British army in 1803 but was seconded to the Portugese, is based on similarities to the sketches he made in the Low Countries and on the Rhine in 1825, and again in France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland in 1829 and 1830 sold in these Rooms on 8 June 1976 lots 60 and 59 respectively, examples repr. In 1811 he had published A Series of Views of the Principal Occurrence of the Campaign in Spain and Portugal with aquatints after his own designs by Charles Turner
The second landscape is not inscribed except for the numbers but probably shows the view looking south from Monte Ulia with the Urumea on the left. The ruined buildings in the foreground on the right are probably those of the suburb of San Martin at the foot of the Azete Heights and just north of San Bartolomé; at the beginning of the seige they were already 'roofless and partly fallen down' (see Charles Oman, A History of the Peninsular War, VI, 1922, pp.562 ff., and VII, 1930, pp.8 ff., for an account of the sieges and topography of San Sebastian in 1813).
The attribution to the amateur artist Major, later Major-General T.S.St. Clair, who joined the British army in 1803 but was seconded to the Portugese, is based on similarities to the sketches he made in the Low Countries and on the Rhine in 1825, and again in France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland in 1829 and 1830 sold in these Rooms on 8 June 1976 lots 60 and 59 respectively, examples repr. In 1811 he had published A Series of Views of the Principal Occurrence of the Campaign in Spain and Portugal with aquatints after his own designs by Charles Turner