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Lot Essay
Michael Robinson (op. cit. p. 968) plausibly speculated that this painting, which is signed and dated 1698, may represent the occasion on which Edward Russell was sent to escort the queen of Spain along the northern coast of Galicia en route to Coruña. In December 1689, Russell travelled to Holland to pick up the Spanish queen aboard the Fubbs, a ketch-rigged yacht, and alongside several fourth-rates and frigates. The party departed Holland in mid-January 1690 and, upon reaching the Downs, Russell returned with the queen to his flagship, the Duke, a three-decker, aboard which they continued their journey. Due to contrary winds, the squadron was delayed, only arriving in Coruña on 16 March 1690.
As Robinson noted, the three-decker in this painting cannot be identified with Russell’s most famous flagship, the Britannia, whose figurehead depicted a horse and rider. Instead, the ship shown here employs a figurehead of a crowned lion with a small rider on its back, a figurehead typical of the ones employed on nine three-deckers that were built under the 1677 building programme. The Duke itself was built in 1682. A drawing of the Duke by van de Velde the Younger (sold Sotheby Mak van Waay, Amsterdam, 3 May 1976, lot 162) suggests it is the one portrayed in this painting.
The use of the Union flag on this ship is consistent with Russell’s command of a detached squadron. While no special flags for the queen are evident, the flagship employs pendants at the mastheads and yardarms, which likely signifies that we are witnessing some important occasion.
According to Robinson, the ketch-rigged yacht seen from the stern at left may well be the Fubbs, on which Russell sailed on his trip to meet the queen. A drawing showing a starboard broadside view of this ship is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest (inv. no. 1916-50). As here, the vessel has two square windows on the stern with a small royal arms between them and a coat-of-arms flanked on either side by a horse and rider on the tafferel above.
We are grateful to Remmelt Daalder for his assistance in the cataloguing of this lot.
As Robinson noted, the three-decker in this painting cannot be identified with Russell’s most famous flagship, the Britannia, whose figurehead depicted a horse and rider. Instead, the ship shown here employs a figurehead of a crowned lion with a small rider on its back, a figurehead typical of the ones employed on nine three-deckers that were built under the 1677 building programme. The Duke itself was built in 1682. A drawing of the Duke by van de Velde the Younger (sold Sotheby Mak van Waay, Amsterdam, 3 May 1976, lot 162) suggests it is the one portrayed in this painting.
The use of the Union flag on this ship is consistent with Russell’s command of a detached squadron. While no special flags for the queen are evident, the flagship employs pendants at the mastheads and yardarms, which likely signifies that we are witnessing some important occasion.
According to Robinson, the ketch-rigged yacht seen from the stern at left may well be the Fubbs, on which Russell sailed on his trip to meet the queen. A drawing showing a starboard broadside view of this ship is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest (inv. no. 1916-50). As here, the vessel has two square windows on the stern with a small royal arms between them and a coat-of-arms flanked on either side by a horse and rider on the tafferel above.
We are grateful to Remmelt Daalder for his assistance in the cataloguing of this lot.