Lot Essay
As Peter Schatborn pointed out in the 1975/6 catalogue, the Russian fleet under the command of Orlov is depicted here during a stop at Woolwich on its way back to the eastsea after defeating the Turkish fleet near Cesme in the Aegaen Sea in July 1770. In February of that year, on the way to the Aegaeis, the fleet had already stopped in Hull and Portsmouth.
Kobell has visited London in 1769, and is known to have made a series of watercolours of the Turkish fleet being burnt by Orlov, intended for the Empress of Russia. Tischbein (Aus meinem Leben, 1861) mentions this and the fact that the series was torn up by Kobell in a rage with Cornelis Ploos van Amstel, who had commented on the series, and apparently corrected one drawing with ink
Kobell has visited London in 1769, and is known to have made a series of watercolours of the Turkish fleet being burnt by Orlov, intended for the Empress of Russia. Tischbein (Aus meinem Leben, 1861) mentions this and the fact that the series was torn up by Kobell in a rage with Cornelis Ploos van Amstel, who had commented on the series, and apparently corrected one drawing with ink