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Lot Essay
At the Battle of Texel the London was commanded by Sir John Harman, a vice-admiral of the red. It seems likely that the damaged vessel on the right is the Vrijheid, on which the Dutch Admiral Jan de Liefde died.
Two drawings by Van de Velde of the stern of the London are in the Boymans Museum, Rotterdam (MB 1866/T441), and the Science Museum, London (1865-52). There are slight variations between both the two drawings and the picture, but the main constructional features remain the same.
Robinson (op. cit.) describes the present picture as 'a work substantially by the Younger' and, as was often the case, there may be studio participation in incidental elements of the background. A slightly larger variant, described by Robinson as 'mainly the work of the Van de Velde studio', is in the Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut (B.1973.1.60).
Two drawings by Van de Velde of the stern of the London are in the Boymans Museum, Rotterdam (MB 1866/T441), and the Science Museum, London (1865-52). There are slight variations between both the two drawings and the picture, but the main constructional features remain the same.
Robinson (op. cit.) describes the present picture as 'a work substantially by the Younger' and, as was often the case, there may be studio participation in incidental elements of the background. A slightly larger variant, described by Robinson as 'mainly the work of the Van de Velde studio', is in the Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut (B.1973.1.60).