John Cleveley the Elder

The Trafalgar Tavern, Greenwich;
Anonymous sale, Christie's London, 18th June 1976, lot 122 

South Mobile, Fine Arts Museum;
Annapolis, The United States Naval Academy Museum, 22nd April-31st May 1986;
Little Rock, The Arkansas Arts Centre, 10th October-23rd November 1986;
Columbia, Columbia Museum of Art;
Alburquerque, Albuquerque Museum of Art, Loan Exhibition, March-May 1987

M.S.Robinson, Van de Velde: A Catalogue of the Paintings of the Elder and Younger Willem van de Velde, 1990, Volume II, p.959, no.454 version [3]

The canvas has been lined. The painting would appear to be in generally very good condition for its age. Examination under ultraviolet light reveals some very minor spots of retouching in the sky and background. There is evidence of a diagonal restoration to the right of the central vessel, with some associated repaint. Held in a carved wood frame.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

It has been suggested that the present composition depicts the English fleet at anchor off the coast of Harwich, under the command of the Earl of Dartmouth (see Robinson, op. cit., p.957-958). The present work derives from a signed work by William van de Velde The Fleet at Sea 1688, which hangs at the Admiralty, and which belongs to the Government Art Collection.  Given the date of 1688 it is certainly likely that the composition is connected to the invasion by William of Orange.

In November 1688 the Earl of Dartmouth's fleet was lying in the Gunfleet off the Naze, and a log of H.M.S. Foresight records that on 2nd November a flyboat was captured, full of soldiers loyal to the Prince of Orange.  William finally landed with his fleet at Torbay in mid November, and the revolution was complete by the end of the year.

If the scene is correctly identified, then the flagship in the left background with the Union flag at the main would be H.M.S. Resolution, a 70-gun ship built in 1667.  The only problem with this identification would appear to be that the artist has shown the vessel with three decks of guns, whereas the Resolution only carried two.  This may have been a mistake originally made by Van de Velde or one of his assistants, who may have assumed that the Admiral of the Fleet would sail in a three-decker.  The other flagship in the right background might then be indentified as H.M.S. Elizabeth, with Sir John Berry's blue flag at the fore as Vice-Admiral of the fleet.

John Cleveley the Elder is known to have painted a version of this composition, and a signed and dated painting by Cleveley was recorded as in the collection of Willis, Faber and Dumas, London by Robinson (op.cit.p.961).  John Cleveley was one of the most talented van de Velde followers.  From about 1747 until the mid-1750s he painted a series of launches of ships at Deptford Dockyard, and the present work is a rare and exciting example of a composition on a similar scale.