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Lot 65

Peter Monamy
(British, 1681-1749)
Castle Cornet, off St. Peter Port, at high tide, with the towering cliffs of the island of Herm beyond unframed

16 September 2008, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

£10,000 - £15,000

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Peter Monamy (British, 1681-1749)

Castle Cornet, off St. Peter Port, at high tide, with the towering cliffs of the island of Herm beyond
signed 'P. Monamy' (on spar centre left)
oil on canvas
69.8 x 109cm (27 1/2 x 42 15/16in).
unframed

Footnotes

Built on the former tidal island of Little Russel, sited off the town of St. Peter Port, Castle Cornet was constructed over a fifty-year period from 1206 – 56 following the division of the Duchy of Normandy in 1204. Besieged and captured by the French in 1339, when its garrison was massacred, the castle remained basically unaltered until 1545-48 when it was extensively remodelled to reflect the new realities of the age of cannon and gunpowder. The official residence of the Governor of Guernsey until 1672, when it was severely damaged by a lightning strike on its powder magazine, the castle later became permanently joined to the island when it was integrated into the new southern breakwater completed after the Napoleonic Wars.

In this charming composition, Monamy shows the castle when it is completely marooned offshore by the full tide. The saluting warship crossing the open water betwixt citadel and St. Peter Port harbour (out of view on the left) merely serves to emphasise the castle’s strategic position at high tide when it was unassailable except from the sea.

We would like to thank Charles Harrison Wallace for his help in cataloguing this lot.

Additional information

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