A Frigate with a View of the Needles
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Small oil painting of a frigate with a view of the Needles. The frigate is to the left of the composition, seen side on, in full sail with a British ensign flying from the stern. There are lots of people aboard the vessel. There is a small sailing boat with sails furled directly behind the frigate. There is a merchant brig to the left and a small cutter to the right. Further ships are evident in the distance. Rocky cliffs appear to the left, and low lying land on the horizon at the right.
The drama of steering the ships past the formidable rocks off the Isle of Wight was a popular subject for Dominic Serres. A composition perhaps based on this painting appears as an engraving in a book written with his son. The book the 'Liber Nauticus, and Instructor in the Art of Marine Drawing' (1805-6) was designed to help others depict naval scenes.
An engraving in the Serres's book, entitled 'Three representations of frigates going through the Needles, at the Isle of White, in a breeze' (Plate XXV) is very similar to this painting. In the Waddesdon picture however, the three ships are a merchant brig, a frigate and a cutter. The high wind and choppy seas adds to the drama of the scene. This painting may have provided a basis for the engraving. It was however a favourite subject of Serres. He exhibited a painting with this title in 1769 at the Society of Artists. Serres made many similar paintings of English vessels against familiar landmarks of the British coast.
Dominic Serres was born in France and seems to have come to England as a prisoner of war in the 1750s, having run away to sea where he served on a Spanish ship. After his release he worked as a house painter before moving to London around 1758 where he specialised in marine painting. He gained recognition for his depictions of the Seven Years War. He was one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768 and was appointed Marine Painter to George III in 1780. His son, John Thomas Serres, was also a successful marine painter.
This is one of three marine paintings in the East Entrance Lobby that were purchased by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild for display on his yacht 'Rona'. He bought it with the title 'Poole Bay'.
Phillippa Plock, 2011
Dimensions (mm) / weight (mg)
413 x 571
400 x 500 - sight
Signature & date
signed and dated, lower left: D. SERRES, 1776
Inscriptions
C. Herbert July 5 lot 21
Inscription
on verso
101
Inscription
chalk on paper covering
No. 7
Inscription
in pencil on paper covering
Provenance
- Owned by C Herbert (active 19th Century); acquired by Thomas Agnew & Sons Ltd before June 1896; bought from Agnew's by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (b.1839, d.1898) 2 June 1896 for £22, stock no. 7641, for his yacht 'Rona' with the title 'Poole Bay'; inherited by his sister Alice de Rothschild (b.1847, d.1922); inherited by her great-nephew James de Rothschild (b.1878, d.1957); bequeathed to Waddesdon (National Trust) in 1957.
Collection
- Waddesdon (National Trust)
- Bequest of James de Rothschild, 1957
Bibliography
- Ellis Waterhouse, Anthony Blunt; Paintings: The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor; Fribourg; Office du Livre, The National Trust; 1967; pp. 110-111, cat. no. 44, ill.
- Alan Russett; Dominic Serres R.A. 1719 - 1793 War Artist to the Navy; Woodbridge; Antique Collectors Club; 2001; pp. 105-106
Subjects
- Objects/Industrial & Maritime Equipment/Ship
- Figures/Male
- Figures/Group
- Objects/Industrial & Maritime Equipment/Boat
- Nature, Landscape & The Elements/Countryside
- Nature, Landscape & The Elements/Marine (The Sea)
- Nature, Landscape & The Elements/Wind
- Nature, Landscape & The Elements/Clouds
- Objects/Flags/Ensign
- Work & Occupations/Trade & Commercial/Merchant