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Jacobus Storck (Amsterdam 1641-1687) The Dutch destroying the British fleet during the Raid on the Medway unframed image 1
Jacobus Storck (Amsterdam 1641-1687) The Dutch destroying the British fleet during the Raid on the Medway unframed image 2
Lot 38TP

Jacobus Storck
(Amsterdam 1641-1687)
The Dutch destroying the British fleet during the Raid on the Medway unframed

3 December 2025, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street

£10,000 - £15,000

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Jacobus Storck (Amsterdam 1641-1687)

The Dutch destroying the British fleet during the Raid on the Medway
indistinctly signed and dated '*** ANNO 1675' (on driftwood, lower right, strengthened)
oil on canvas
121.3 x 170.3cm (47 3/4 x 67 1/16in).
unframed

Footnotes

Provenance
Possibly Sale, George Squibb, London, 28 March 1822, lot 53 ('Large Sea Engagement')
Sale, Christie's, London, 17 December 1999 (unsold, as Jan Abrahamsz. Beerstraten)
Private Collection, UK

Whilst the present lot is dated 1675, the scene depicted is that of the Dutch destroying the British fleet during the 'Raid on the Medway', 12 June 1667, during which Vice-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, aboard the Zeven Provinciën, took the uncommissioned Royal Charles. The newly launched Gouden Leeuw under command of Rear Admiral Gideon Verburgh can be seen in the middle distance.

The painting bears all the characteristics of a work from the Storck family studio in its accurate depiction of the ships, the folds of the flag on the mainmast of the Dutch Admiral's ship, and the distinctive colour scheme and rendering of the waves. The Zeven Provinciën appears to have been painted after a drawing in the family studio (which has been suggested to have been shared by Jacobus and his younger brother, Abraham Storck), and, similarly, the HMS Royal Charles is taken from a preparatory drawing now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv. no. RPT-00-256), presumably depicted from direct observation whilst the ship lay in the harbour of Hellevoetsluis from just after its capture in 1667 until its dismantling in 1673.

The figures in the present lot are slightly more rigid in their handling than those by Abraham, and are typical of Jacobus's style. The present work is the only existing painting of a naval battle by Jacobus known today.

We are grateful to Gillis Tak Labrijn for his help in preparing this catalogue note.

Additional information