Lot Essay
As the hitherto feudal state of Japan gradually absorbed western influences in the second half of the nineteenth century, it was inevitable that - as an island nation - she would want to develop a modern navy in keeping with her international ambitions. Her first armoured ship was purchased second-hand from the United States but thereafter, Japan looked to Great Britain and although ships were ordered from a number of different shipyards, an association was formed early on with Armstrong, Whitworth's at Elswick, on the Tyne, which was to have a lasting impact upon the infant Japanese Navy. This particular company, soon to become even more famous after its amalgamation with Vickers in 1908, boasted some of the most advanced shipbuilding techniques of the day, especially those pertaining to cruisers -armoured as well as both 'protected' and 'unprotected' - and, from the mid-1890's, a significant number of Japan's warships were designed and constructed in their Elswick yards. That this great enterprise was successful was undoubtedly due to the skills of Philip Watts, Armstrong's Chief Naval Architect and the Director of their War Shipbuilding Department from 1885 until the turn of the century. A brilliant innovator, Watts only left Armstrong's in 1901 when he was appointed Director of Naval Construction at the Admiralty where his greatest achievement - and the one for which he was knighted in 1905 - was the creation of H.M.S. Dreadnought, the most revolutionary of all capital ships and the model from which all the battleships and battlecruisers of the twentieth century have evolved.
The era which made Watts' reputation however was that spent at Elswick and it was during those sixteen years that he created many of those Japanese ships depicted in Wyllie's panorama including the battleships Yashima and Hatsuse, the armoured cruisers Asama, Tokiwa, Idzumo and Iwate, the protected cruisers Yoshino, Idzumi and Takasago, and the unprotected 'light' cruisers Tsukushi and Tatsuta. By any standards this was a formidable output and when Wyllie was commissioned to portray the fleet, it was hardly surprising that he turned to Watts for technical advice in his quest for accuracy. The oil painting, to which this watercolour is the companion piece, was commissioned by the officers of the Japanese Navy for presentation to Crown Prince Yoshi Hito to commemorate his coming-of-age (born in August 1879, Yoshi Hito succeedes as Emperor in 1912 and died in 1926). Sold with this lot is an autograph letter from W.L. Wyllie (dated 1926) which corroborates this information stating:
"I painted the watercolour of the Japanese fleet at Elswick under the direction of Sir Philip Watts, who had designed and built a great many of the ships. The officers of the Jap (sic) Navy
wished to make a present to their prince on his coming of age
and subscribed some of the money. I fancy the shipyard found
the rest and an oil picture the same size and subject was sent
to his Highness. I do not think the pictures have ever been
exhibited."
Exhibited or not, this panorama is a work of major historic importance in that it documents the remarkable transformation of Japan's capability for seaborne warfare soon to prove so decisive against Russia. During the forthcoming War of 1904-1905, the Russian Pacific Fleet was defeated at the Battle of the Yellow Sea (10 August 1904) and then their powerful Baltic Fleet was annihilated at Tsushima (27 May 1905), both engagements establishing Japan as a major naval power at a stroke.
The era which made Watts' reputation however was that spent at Elswick and it was during those sixteen years that he created many of those Japanese ships depicted in Wyllie's panorama including the battleships Yashima and Hatsuse, the armoured cruisers Asama, Tokiwa, Idzumo and Iwate, the protected cruisers Yoshino, Idzumi and Takasago, and the unprotected 'light' cruisers Tsukushi and Tatsuta. By any standards this was a formidable output and when Wyllie was commissioned to portray the fleet, it was hardly surprising that he turned to Watts for technical advice in his quest for accuracy. The oil painting, to which this watercolour is the companion piece, was commissioned by the officers of the Japanese Navy for presentation to Crown Prince Yoshi Hito to commemorate his coming-of-age (born in August 1879, Yoshi Hito succeedes as Emperor in 1912 and died in 1926). Sold with this lot is an autograph letter from W.L. Wyllie (dated 1926) which corroborates this information stating:
"I painted the watercolour of the Japanese fleet at Elswick under the direction of Sir Philip Watts, who had designed and built a great many of the ships. The officers of the Jap (sic) Navy
wished to make a present to their prince on his coming of age
and subscribed some of the money. I fancy the shipyard found
the rest and an oil picture the same size and subject was sent
to his Highness. I do not think the pictures have ever been
exhibited."
Exhibited or not, this panorama is a work of major historic importance in that it documents the remarkable transformation of Japan's capability for seaborne warfare soon to prove so decisive against Russia. During the forthcoming War of 1904-1905, the Russian Pacific Fleet was defeated at the Battle of the Yellow Sea (10 August 1904) and then their powerful Baltic Fleet was annihilated at Tsushima (27 May 1905), both engagements establishing Japan as a major naval power at a stroke.