Jacob Knyff

Probably Archbishop of Armagh, circa 1890;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 26th April 1985, lot 77 (bt. for £75,000 by the present owner)

C. M. Gavin, Royal Yachts, London 1932, p. 68 (illus.);
F. B. Cockett, Early Sea Painters 1660-1730, Antique Collectors' Club, 1995, pp. 45 & 49, cat. no. 16 (illus. Colour Plate 15)

The following condition report is provided by Hamish Dewar, who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's. UNCONDITIONAL AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE Structural Condition The canvas has been lined and this is ensuring an even and secure structural support and has successfully secured the overall craquelure pattern which is not visually distracting. Paint Surface The paint surface has a reasonably even varnish layer. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows extensive retouchings in the sky the majority of which are thin vertical and horizontal lines which appear to cover the grain of the canvas. There are also: 1) thinner areas of glazing in the blue of the sky, 2) an area of retouching in the sky around the lantern on the stern of HMS Triumph and a number of small areas highlighting the details of the same ship, and 3) other small scattered spots of inpainting in the sea and around the framing edges. It should be noted that there are few retouchings on the details of the ships or the buildings and that the rigging and sails of the ships are in very good condition. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in reasonably good and stable condition with the majority of the retouchings being in the sky.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Despite its prominent setting off Dover Castle the present painting in fact commemorates the Royal visit of Charles II and his brother, James Duke of York, Lord High Admiral of the Fleet, to H.M.S. Triumph at the Buoy of the Nore, near Sheerness, in 1665. The King and his brother, along with the two Fleet Commanders, Prince Rupert and the Earl of Albermarle, gathered on board in order to interview the ship's captain, Sir Edward Spragge, who had valuable information from a well-placed spy in France. The event is confirmed by both the identity of the principal ship, and the flags flying from her fore, main and mizzen masts. Not only does she fly the Royal Standard from her main, but the ship is also flying the red and gold anchor flag of the Lord High Admiral at the fore which indicates, pre-1690, that both the King and his brother are on board ship. The Union flag at the mizzen indicates the presence of another important personage, such as a Fleet Commander like Prince Rupert or the Duke of Albermarle, and their combination here prescribes this a council-of-war involving the most important individuals in the kingdom.

The Triumph, originally designed as a 42 gun ship of the line, was built at Deptford by William Burrell and launched in 1623. As with many ships of this age she was frequently repaired and enlarged, and by 1660 she had increased to 64 guns, with a further eight being added over the following years to take her up to 72 by 1666. The Triumph fought in no fewer than eleven major battles between 1623 and 1673, when she was decommissioned. She served as the fleet's flagship at both the battles of Dungeness and Portland during the First Dutch War, and fought in both the subsequent wars with the Dutch, surviving in reserve until 1688. The key factor in distinguishing her in the present painting is her distinctive forecastle, as the Triumph was the only pre-1666 ship of this design which had such a feature. The ship's forecastle is mentioned in dockyard papers from the late 1670s and can also been seen in a drawing of her hull by William van der Velde of 1675 (Kriegstein Collection, USA). The present painting is the only known contemporary view of the Triumph's stern.

The painting is likely to have been commissioned in 1671 or 1672, by which time Spragge, her captain at the time of the event, had been appointed Vice Admiral and could therefore afford such a commission, and there are two plausible explanations for the setting off Dover. One is that Spragge simply forgot where the event took place. The Triumph did in fact sail with the rest of the fleet to the Downs off Dover only a few days after the Royal visit, and it may be that the lapse of several years clouded his memory. Equally the artist may simply have managed to convince him that Dover would make a more impressive and dramatic backdrop, a setting more appropriate to the grandeur of the occasion, which indeed it does.

As well as the Triumph three further vessels depicted here are worthy of note. These are the Royal yachts, by which Charles II and his entourage are known to have travelled to the meeting, though the construction dates of those shown in the present painting indicate that they cannot have been the ones actually used at the time. On the far right is the Cleveland, built in 1671 and Charles II's favourite for many years. She is identifiable by the upright winged figure on the stern, which appears in all the van de Velde drawings of her. The yacht nearest the Triumph, just off her bow, is probably the Kitchen, built in 1670, which served the purpose after which it was named during Royal yachting expeditions, whilst the yacht in the left foreground is not the Portsmouth as previously believed (of which there is a very accurate painting by van der Velde at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich), but more likely the Anne, built in 1661 and the yacht favoured by the Duke of York.

Yachting was an enormous passion shared by both the royal Stuart brothers. Having grown up in exile in the Low Countries the two men had developed a lasting affinity for sailing and the sea, as well as a love of Dutch marine painting, a genre which had hitherto been almost unheard of in England. When Charles was recalled to the throne in 1660 the Dutch gave him a yacht as a leaving present and he very soon has a small fleet of the vessels. Small, fast, beautiful to look at and yet seaworthy and easily handled, the Royal yachts were a constant passion for the King and his brother, and they sailed them personally for pleasure (thus introducing the sport of recreational sailing to Britain), much to the astonishment of many of their contemporaries, including Samuel Pepys.

We are grateful to Frank L. Fox for his assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.