Philippa Iles
Senior Sale Coordinator
Lot 80AR
John Steven Dews(British, born 1949)'Battle of the Nile, 1st August 1798'
30 April 2025, 14:00 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £92,583.34 inc. premium
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Polly Cornthwaite
Senior Cataloguer
Rhyanon Demery
Head of Sale
John Steven Dews (British, born 1949)
'Battle of the Nile, 1st August 1798'
signed 'J. Steven Dews' (lower left) and inscribed in pencil '"BATTLE OF THE NILE" 1st August 1798' (on bottom stretcher)
oil on canvas
83.5 x 140cm (32 7/8 x 55 1/8in).
signed 'J. Steven Dews' (lower left) and inscribed in pencil '"BATTLE OF THE NILE" 1st August 1798' (on bottom stretcher)
oil on canvas
83.5 x 140cm (32 7/8 x 55 1/8in).
Footnotes
The so-called Battle of the Nile was fought in Aboukir Bay, about 15 miles west of Alexandria, on 1 August 1798. Nelson, having spent most of the summer cruising the Eastern Mediterranean looking for Admiral Brueys' Toulon fleet, finally came upon it as it lay at anchor in Aboukir Bay following the disembarkation of the army with which Napoleon was to conquer Egypt. Brueys had chosen a strong position in a well-protected anchorage although Nelson had the advantage of surprise. More significantly, it was already six o'clock in the evening when Nelson sighted the French and, with only two hours of daylight remaining, Brueys was confident that any attack would have to be postponed until the next day, by which time his own fleet would be ready. Nelson, with typical daring, amazed both his own captains as well as the French by ordering his ships into the Bay where they engaged the enemy in a spirited action which lasted almost through the night. The decisive moment came just after 10 o'clock when the French flagship, the huge 120-gun L'Orient, blew up with a tremendous explosion and, when dawn broke, the French annihilation became apparent with nine of their badly damaged ships captured and another four destroyed. It was a glorious victory for Nelson, one of the greatest in British naval history, and the one which brought him to the pinnacle of his career.