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1 of 253523 objects
Thomas Elliot (c. 1770-1800)
A View of Part of the British fleet at Spithead c.1790-2
Oil on canvas | 88.3 x 142.6 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 405171
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Little is known about the marine painter Thomas Elliot (c. 1770-1800). He worked in Portsmouth during the 1790s and painted many versions of the Spanish Armament of 1790.
This is a view of the fleet which had secured for England the uninterrupted navigation of the Southern Ocean. The occasion recorded may be the assembly of ships for the review of 1790. Among those depicted are probably the 'Impregnable', under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Hussey Bickerton (1727-1792), the 'Formidable', 'Gibraltar', 'Queen Charlotte', 'Victory', and the 'Royal George', under the command of Admiral Samuel Barrington (1729-1800).
When this painting and its pair (RCIN 405170) were cleaned in 1968, the process revealed Thomas Elliot's signature, an artist not to be confused with William Elliott.
The frame bears a contemporary dedication to that great war-time Prime Minister, William Pitt (1759-1806).Provenance
Recorded in the Queen's Presence Chamber at Hampton Court in 1861 (no 1017)
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Creator(s)
(nationality) -
Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
88.3 x 142.6 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
107.8 x 161.0 x 7.8 cm (frame, external)
Other number(s)
Alternative title(s)
A view of part of the British fleet at Spithead, 1790.
A sea-piece with shipping.
