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Estuary scene: pinks, barges and a frigate firing a salute

Maker

(artist)
1633-1707

Title

Date of Production

1670 - 1675

Medium

graphite on laid paper, with black ink framing lines

Dimensions

Height: 29.4 cm
Width: 36.3 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.1237

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

pinks

Label Text

A date in the early 1670s has been proposed on stylistic grounds for this drawing, but since the ships depicted might be either Dutch or English, it is not certain whether it was executed before or after Willem van de Velde and his father, also Willem, emigrated to England from Holland in the winter of 1672-73. Willem the Younger was the foremost marine painter of the seventeenth century and very prolific: the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich alone has 1,400 drawings by father and son.

Notes

This is not closely related to a painting, and, indeed, sketches identifiable as preliminary studies are rare in the artist's oeuvre. The colour note 'L' for 'licht' or 'light' shows the importance of noting effects of light and atmosphere (similar notes are found on the artist's drawings in the National Maritime Museum). In the winter of 1672-73 the artist and his father, of the same name, moved to England, and by 1674 were in the service of Charles II.

Provenance

William Amhurst Tyssen-Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney (1835-1909); by descent to his wife, Margaret Susan Mitford (1835-1919); her estate sale, Sotheby's (London), 14 December 1921, one of lots 99, 100, 103, 105, 108, 110 or 112; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b (13 shillings); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Dutch drawings from the Witt Collection: Part 1: Landscape, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1972 (Jan.-Mar.)

Landscapes in the Making: Dutch & Flemish 16-17th Century Drawings from the Courtauld Gallery, Tobu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, 03/11/2000-24/12/2000; Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Shizuoka, 02/02/2001-11/03/2001; Koriyama City Museum of Art, Koriyama, 17/03/2001-15/04/2001

The Northern Landscape: Flemish, Dutch and British Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 03/09/1986-30/11/1986; The Drawing Center, New York, 08/04/1986-26/07/1986 ...More

Drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1958-59

Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1926-27 ...Less

Literature

The Northern Landscape: Flemish, Dutch and British Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1986
cat. no. 64
Illus. p. 153

Dutch drawings from the Witt Collection: Part 1: Landscape, Courtauld Gallery, London, January - March 1972
cat. no. 64

Drawings from the Witt Collection, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1958 - 1959
cat. no. 48

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: Recto, right centre: small crowned shield containing a lily (similar, though not an exact match, to Heawood 1657-1658 and 1662 – England ca. 1682, ca. 1665-75 and 1688, respectively).

Collector's mark: Verso: lower right corner, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

Inscription: Recto: within the drawing, centre, graphite, colour note: "L."; lower left corner, brown ink, signed with the artist's initials: "W. V. V J". Verso: lower left, graphite: "3 / d //".

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