Willem van de Velde the Elder

Framed in old ebonised frame. The vellum laid down first onto a sheet of paper, and then on board. The paper structure of the first backing sheet clearly visible from the front of the drawing. The lower edge has possibly been cut slightly, as the framing line is lost, and possibly part of the signature. Some light stains, especially at left edge. A little glue or gum arabic adhering to surface in two place (top left and centre right). Very slight abrasions in foregound. Otherwise good, fresh condition.
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This is one of a small number of precise and highly-finished marine drawings in brown ink on vellum, which were made by van de Velde at the begining of his career, in the early and mid-1640s.  Conceptually very similar to the artist's celebrated penschilderijen of the following decade (large and elaborate monochrome compositions, meticulously drawn in pen and black ink on white grounded canvas), the drawings on vellum are a far less well-known aspect of the artist's early work. 

Five such drawings, the largest group in any one collection, are in the Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum, Amsterdam, while another, dated 1641, is in the Albertina.¹  This example is only the fouth drawing of this type to be have appeared on the market since 1921: two of a larger scale than the present drawing were sold in Amsterdam, Sotheby's, 15 November 1995, lot 115 and 1 November 2003, lot 91, and one of slightly smaller dimensions was sold in New York, Sotheby's, 26 January 2002, lot 46.

We are grateful to Professor Dr. Jan Kelch for his help in identifying the types of ships depicted in this drawing.

1.  See M. Bisanz-Prakken, Drawings from the Albertina: Landscape in the Age of Rembrandt, exhibition catalogue, New York, The Drawing Center, and Fort Worth, The Kimbell Art Museum, 1995, pp. 148-9, cat. no. 70