Philippa Iles
Senior Sale Coordinator
Lot 61
Circle of Robert Salmon(British, 1775-1845)A Privateer anchored in the Mersey and drying her sails in a fresh breeze
30 April 2025, 14:00 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £6,400 inc. premium
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Polly Cornthwaite
Senior Cataloguer
Rhyanon Demery
Head of Sale
Circle of Robert Salmon (British, 1775-1845)
A Privateer anchored in the Mersey and drying her sails in a fresh breeze
oil on canvas
63.5 x 85.7cm (25 x 33 3/4in).
oil on canvas
63.5 x 85.7cm (25 x 33 3/4in).
Footnotes
Provenance
Anon. sale, Bonhams, London, 28 February 2006, lot 96 (sold for £14,000 hammer).
Private collection, UK (purchased from the above).
The ship is probably a privateer rather than a regular Royal Navy vessel. Whilst the four rows of reefing points was naval fashion, on the other hand the two varnished strakes on the hull suggests Mercantile practice. This view off the Liverpool waterfront shows the dome of St. Paul's church just under the ensign of the ship, the Town Hall amidships and the fort off to the left border.
The wind is southerly and the tide is ebbing as evidenced by the water flow at the stern of the vessel, the small boat alongside and the buoy on the extreme left. With the sails backed and the wind and tide acting together, the ship would be drifting astern quite rapidly were it not for the anchor. This would account for the anchor cable being bar taut; as would be the state of affairs if she had just anchored and was digging her anchor in.
It is puzzling as to why there are so few crew around the deck, or going aloft in the rigging. A possible answer may be that the captain of the privateer has had a very successful cruise and after putting crews aboard the prizes, the captain is returning with a minimal crew. Having securely anchored, there is no immediate call to stow sail in such a moderate breeze, and the next move would be to clew up the lower corners of the sails and leave them set to dry, but empty of wind. This could be achieved from the deck by quite a small crew.
The figurehead looks as if it has to be George III and although there was a famous Liverpool privateer called King George in the 1750's she had long since disappeared by the time this picture was painted.
The late Dr. Sam Davidson kindly helped catalogue this lot for the sale in 2006.