Marines aboard the Zr. Ms. artillery command ship 'Het Loo'

Hoynck van Papendrecht was one of the leading artist in portraying the minutia of everyday military life in the 19th Century. The present lot depicts Marines on board of the Zr. Ms. Artillery command ship ‘Het Loo’. ‘Het Loo’ used to be a steamboat of the third order, but had its interior removed to incorporate lodging and classrooms for sailors and Mariners around 1889-1894. Prior to the alterations, the ship had made long journeys to the Dutch East Indies to transport troops and victuals between Ambon, Hatusua and Temate. The command ship ‘Het Loo’ is depicted in other works by Hoynck van Papendrecht such as Schijfschieten aan boord van Zr. Ms. Artillerie-instructieschip ‘Het Loo’, with which Hoynck van Papendrecht made his début in 1884 at the ‘Tentoonstelling van Levende Meesters’ in Amsterdam. At the time, the work was sold for Dfl. 1.200. In the present lot we can see the Marines in the hull of the ship doing their day-to-day chores and mending their clothes. The cooler palet re-creates the intimacy of the small rooms below deck.