Leo Webster
Senior Specialist
Lot 93
Attributed to Nicholas Matthew Condy(British, 1818-1851)Ships-of-the-line from the 'Experimental Squadron' underway in light winds in Osborne Bay, 15th July 1845
18 October 2017, 14:00 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £7,500 inc. premium
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Rhyanon Demery
Head of Sale
Jon Baddeley
Specialist Consultant Collectors, Science & Marine
Attributed to Nicholas Matthew Condy (British, 1818-1851)
Ships-of-the-line from the 'Experimental Squadron' underway in light winds in Osborne Bay, 15th July 1845
bears a signature and indistinct date (lower right) and bears an inscription on partial label (attached to the frame verso)
oil on canvas
48.2 x 76.2cm (19 x 30in).
bears a signature and indistinct date (lower right) and bears an inscription on partial label (attached to the frame verso)
oil on canvas
48.2 x 76.2cm (19 x 30in).
Footnotes
The so-called 'Experimental Squadrons' of the Royal Navy were sent to sea at various times in the 1830s and 1840s specifically to test new techniques of ship design, armament and building practices during a period of bitter conflict within the naval establishment as to whether or not some more modern methods should be adopted.
The final cruise of the sailing navy's era - before steam-powered warships were included - took place after a royal inspection and review of a newly-constituted 'Experimental Squadron' at Spithead by Queen Victoria on 21st June 1845. Such was the public interest on the day, the Hampshire Advertiser estimated that "there could not have been fewer than 20,000 persons on the water" watching the spectacle from boats of every size, quite apart from the multitudes ashore. On 23rd June, the anchored ships of the squadron then gave an impressive demonstration of making and furling sail, although HMS Superb, a brand new 2nd rate of 80-guns, sailed fifteen miles out into open water where she was 'put through her paces' much to the delight of the Queen herself, in the royal yacht, and all those other spectators who had followed the ship in a large flotilla of small boats.
Three weeks later, on 15th July, the Queen returned to Spithead to witness the departure of the squadron for a much-heralded cruise to the Bay of Biscay, with calls at Plymouth and Cork. With the Queen being accompanied by Prince Albert, the dowager Queen Adelaide, the King & Queen of the Belgians and numerous other royal or princely guests, vast crowds once again gathered both ashore and afloat, and the event was declared to be an even greater success than the two pageants the previous month. After leaving Spithead, the 'Experimental Squadron' headed into Osborne Bay and thence set a course around the eastern tip of the Isle of Wight and into the Channel.
We are grateful to Michael Naxton for his assistance with cataloguing this lot.