Captain Richard Brydges Beechey (1808-1895)
Captain Richard Brydges Beechey (1808-1895)

Lord Colville's schooner yacht Volage, flying the colours of the Royal Yacht Squadron, close-hauled and heading down the Channel past the Mewstone Rock

Details
Captain Richard Brydges Beechey (1808-1895)
Lord Colville's schooner yacht Volage, flying the colours of the Royal Yacht Squadron, close-hauled and heading down the Channel past the Mewstone Rock
signed and dated 'R Beechey./1862' (lower left)
oil on canvas
16 x 22 in. (40.7 x 55.8 cm.)
Provenance
Charles John Colville, 1st Viscount Colville of Culross, K.T., G.C.V.O., P.C., and by descent.

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

Sign in
View condition report

Lot Essay

Charles John Colville, 1st Viscount (11th Baron) Colville of Culross K.T., G.C.V.O., P.C. (1818-1903), was a British nobleman, Conservative politician and courtier.

A Captain in the Coldstream Guards, he succeeded his uncle to the baronetcy of Colville of Culross in 1849. Elected a Scottish Representative Peer in 1851, he served under Lord Derby as Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshal in 1852 and again from 1858-1859. Under Lord Derby, and subsequently Benjamin Disraeli, he was Master of the Buckhounds (1866-1868). In 1866, he became a member of the Privy Council and later became Lord Chamberlain to the Princess of Wales (1873-1901) and to Queen Alexandra (1901-1903). Colville was also Chairman of the Great Northern Railway Company (1872-1895), a director of the Central London Railway (1900) and President of the Honourable Artillery Company. He was made a Knight of the Thistle in 1874 and created Baron Colville of Culross in 1885. In 1902, he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Colville of Culross.

A keen yachtsman, Lord Colville was the owner of three yachts, the yawl Sultana (1854), the cutter Lavrock (1861) and the schooner yacht Volage (1861), portrayed in the work offered above. A resident of Cowes, he was elected to the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1853. He died at Cowes on 1st July 1903 and is commemorated by a plaque erected in his memory by members of the Royal Yacht Squadron in the Holy Trinity Church, Cowes.

More from Victorian, Pre Raphaelite & British Impressionist Art, Maritime Art, Sporting & Wildlife Art

View All
View All