Live Auction 7278British Pictures 1500-1850
Francis Swaine (1740-1782)
Lot 60

Francis Swaine (1740-1782)

Shipping in calm waters, a flagship firing a salute; and Shipping in calm waters, with a jetty in the foreground

Price Realised

GBP 6,000

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Francis Swaine (1740-1782)
Shipping in calm waters, a flagship firing a salute; and Shipping in calm waters, with a jetty in the foreground
both signed 'F.Swaine' (on driftwood) and signed again (on the reverses)
oil on copper
4½ x 6 in. (11.5 x 15.3 cm)
a pair (2)

with St James's Galleries Ltd, London.
Bought by the present owners in 1996.

Specialist note

In 1735 Swaine is recorded as being a messenger in the Royal Navy, a position which must have given him the precise and detailed knowledge of shipping revealed in his pictures. His works also show the indirect influence of paintings by William van de Velde II. Although he was probably painting by the 1740s, Swaine did not begin to exhibit his works until 1761. After this date, he showed his pictures regularly at both the Free and Incorporated Societies of Artists.