QUARTERDECK MARITIME LITERATURE & ART REVIEW - COMPLIMENTS OF MCBOOKS PRESS - AWS
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Quarterdeck
MARITIME LITERATURE & ART REVIEW
Compliments of McBooks Press
THE DESTINATION FOR NAUTICAL FICTION www.mcbooks.com / www.rowman.com
Quarterdeck
MARITIME LITERATURE & ART
17 REVIEW
T S
C
Quarterdeck is published quarterly by
Tall Ships Communications
6952 Cypress Bay Drive
Kalamazoo, MI 49009
269-372-4673
Contents EDITOR & PUBLISHER
George D. Jepson
gdjepson@gmail.com
AUTUMN 2020 ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Amelia A. Yeoman
INTERVIEW COLUMNS
Quarterdeck is distributed
by McBooks Press, an imprint of
13 DAVID POYER 5 By George Globe Pequot
246 Goose Lane, Suite 200
The author takes a retrospective Discovering Nelson’s England Guilford, CT 06437
look at his Dan Lenson novels
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
8 AUTHOR’S NOTES George D. Jepson
FEATURE Balkan Glory - From Conception
Phone: 269-372-4673
gjepson@rowman.com
www.mcbooks.com
to Completion
17 BRITISH MARINE by Julian Stockwin
Visit Quarterdeck and McBooks Press
WATERCOLORS on Facebook
James Mitchell, London gallery
proprietor, offers a brief guide
to collecting
DEPARTMENTS 5
4 SCUTTLEBUTT
26 BOOK REVIEWS
29 MARITIME FICTION
33 MARITIME HISTORY ON THE COVER:
Detail from “An East Indiaman, with men on the
yards taking in sail” by English marine artist
Samuel Atkins (active 1787-1808)
Pen and ink, and watercolor.
© Tall Ships Communications
3 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020
SCUTTLEBUTT
SETH HUNTER NEW BOOK RELEASES
A
fter a three-year hiatus, McBooks Press 2020 - 2021
SETH HUNTER will publish a rousing new Nathan Peake
naval adventure in the United States and US (United States)
THE the United Kingdom in May 2021. The Sea of UK (United Kingdom)
Silence is the seventh title in the acclaimed nauti- TPB (Trade Paperback)
SEA OF cal historical fiction series from the pen of Eng- PB (Paperback)
HB (Hardback)
SILENCE lish novelist Seth Hunter.
Peake, the Anglo-American British naval offi-
EB (Ebook)
NF (Nonfiction)
cer, is the man who saved the life of Napoleon
Bonaparte – and now he must stop him from OCTOBER
conquering the world. After seizing power in
France and subduing the rest of Europe, Napo- Balkan Glory (UKHB)
leon has made a truce with the British who rule by Julian Stockwin
A Nathan Peake Novel
the seas and turned his attention to the Americas.
A King’s Cutter (USTPB)
All that stands between Napoleon and his global by Richard Woodman
ambition is one small sloop, a handful of British and American sailors, a diminishing
band of rebel slaves – and Nathan Peake, the Anglo-American naval officer who A Brig of War (USTPB)
saved the dictator’s life. by Richard Woodman
Seth Hunter is the pseudonym used for the Nathan Peake series by the author of
award-winning novels for both adults and children. He is also a writer, director and Word of Honor (USHB)
by Robert N. Macomber
producer of television dramas and documentaries for leading broadcasters in Europe
and the USA, including the BBC and PBS. He makes his home in London. NOVEMBER
TERRY MORT By Force of Arms (USTPB)
by James L. Nelson
I
n April, McBooks Press will launch Hunters in
the Stream, the first title a new series by Ameri- The Maddest Idea (USTPB)
can author Terry Mort, featuring Riley Fit- by James L. Nelson
zhugh, a hard-boiled LA private eye turned naval
officer. MARCH
As war clouds gather in Europe, Fitzhugh, using
an FBI connection, applies for officer candidate Captain Putnam for the
Republic of Texas (USHB)
school. After graduation, Ensign Fitzhugh is as- by James L. Haley
signed to PC 475, an anti-submarine vessel sta-
tioned in Key West, as second in command to her APRIL
skipper, an up-from-the-ranks lieutenant.
Called Nameless by her crew because patrol craft Hunters in the Stream (USHB)
only carried numbers, PC 475 cruises the Gulf of by Terry Mort
Mexico searching for U-boats preying on Allied
Crash Boat (USHB)
shipping in the days just after Pearl Harbor. With
by Earl A. McCandlish and
regular stops in Havana to meet with the Cuban Navy and enjoy the local surround- George D. Jepson
ings, Fitzhugh learns of a clandestine U-boat fueling station in eastern Cuba’s wilds.
Nameless sails into dangerous waters with orders to locate and destroy the base. MAY
Along the way, Fitzhugh encounters novelist Ernest Hemingway in a Havana wa-
tering hole and shares PC 475’s adventures. Hemingway and his pals, seeking their The Sea of Silence (USHB)
own excitement, also stalk the Nazis with his deep-sea fishing yacht. With Heming- by Seth Hunter
way away for days at a time, Fitzhugh and the author’s wife, writer Martha Gellhorn,
cross paths and feel some mutual stirrings – and give in to them.
4 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020
By George!
© Alamy
Discovering
NELSON’S ENGLAND
O
ABOVE Nelson’s Column in n a brilliant spring afternoon I almost expected him to speak.
Trafalgar Square, with the
in 2002, Amy and I traveled to Over the last two decades, our visits to Eng-
Houses of Parliament in the
background, and the dome the Portsmouth Historic Dock- land have invariably taken us to places related
of the National Gallery in yard for the launch of to the Royal Navy under sail, and,
the right foreground in Julian Stockwin’s Artemis, the sec- specifically, to locations touched
London. The Nelson monu-
ment was constructed be-
ond title in the Thomas Kydd by Nelson, which stretch far
tween 1840 and 1843 to a naval adventures. and wide across the country.
design by William Railton The festivities took place Autumn is our preferred
at a cost of £47,000. in the National Museum of season in England, but as
RIGHT Lord Nelson by John the Royal Navy across I write, there will be no
Hoppner, English portrait from Admiral Lord Nel- visit this year, with the
painter, 1758 - 1810. son’s flagship, HMS Victo- world under siege from
ry. Ahead of the celebra- COVID-19.
tion, while browsing While “beached” for a
through a gallery displaying time, I’ve had pause to re-
a collection of Nelson-related call our travels to Nelson’s
articles, I stepped around a par- bits of England – sometimes
tition and came face-to-face with to very public places and, on
the man. other occasions, to out-of-the-way
PD Art
Startled, I took a step backward to eye a locations.
life-like figure depicting Nelson immediately Arriving in London for the first time in May
before Trafalgar in 1805, based upon current of 1997, we ventured into Trafalgar Square,
research at that time. The figure seemed so real where Nelson’s Column rises 169 feet and †
5 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020
Photos by George D. Jepson.
son – who had gone to sea over the centuries to
defend Britannia. In the distance, Victory’s top
ABOVE LEFT The ornate en- three inches over the area formerly known as hamper rose above a building.
try port greets visitors to
Charing Cross. Nelson’s statue atop the fluted Walking through the dockyard, with its an-
HMS Victory at the Ports-
© Alamy
mouth Historic Dockyard. column faces down Whitehall, towards the cient storehouses on our left, we passed by the
Admiralty, HMS Victory at Portsmouth, and mast pond and ropewalk before Victory hove
ABOVE RIGHT Victory’s fig- toward Cape Trafalgar in southern Spain. into view.
urehead, a replica of the
Hanoverian royal arms sup-
A short stroll away, we peered into the This was the first of many visits to the ship.
ported by two cherubs, courtyard on Whitehall where so many naval Each time we pass through the ornate entry
which was originally fitted officers – real and those imagined in fiction – port, my imagination wanders back to life in
during between 1801 and had passed through the portals into history the Georgian Royal Navy, visualizing Nelson in
1803. The sculpture was
carved in 1801 by George and the writings of C S Forester, Alexander his surprisingly spacious cabin in the hours be-
Williams. During of the Kent, Patrick O’Brian, David Donachie, and fore Trafalgar or hosting his captains – his
Battle of Trafalgar, the star- Julian Stockwin, among others. “band of brothers” – in his dining cabin.
board figure had its leg shot
On another sunny morning, we made our The year of the Artemis launch, we stayed at
away, and the port figure,
its arm. Sadly, in October way to St Paul’s Cathedral via the Under- the Angel Posting House and Livery on the
2009, rot was discover- ed ground to pay our respects to Admiral Nelson cobbled High Street in Guildford, home to Ju-
in the figurehead and it was and the Duke of Wellington, who lie in the lian Stockwin’s naval hero Thomas Kydd. In
removed from the ship.
crypt. the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries,
By the time we boarded a train a day later at British naval officers, including Nelson, often
Waterloo Station for Portsmouth Harbour broke their passages at the Angel, while coach-
and the Historic Dockyard, I was deeply in ing from London to Portsmouth.
arrears to Amy, who had indulged my passion Though spring had arrived, a bitter cold
for all things related to Royal Navy history – front blew in from Russia. Returning to the
and Horatio Nelson. Angel after a stroll, we warmed ourselves with
Disembarking from our carriage at Ports- tea and biscuits in front of a blazing fire on the
mouth Harbour, after a lovely journey great hearth just inside the entry.
through the Hampshire countryside, crisp sea One morning, with a chill wind blowing, I
air awakened our senses. HMS Warrior, the met up with Julian Stockwin and we traveled
world’s first ocean-going, iron-hulled, and ar- by rail to the Historic Dockyard in Chatham –
mored warship in her 1860 configuration, was another Nelson connection. It was here in
moored across from the station. March 1771, that the 12-year-old lad climbed
Approaching Victory Gate, flanked by its aboard a man-of-war for the first time.
two iconic golden globes, I realized that we The 64-gun third-rate Raisonnable lay at her
were walking in the footsteps of generations of moorings in the Medway when he arrived by
naval officers and Jack Tars – including Nel- coach from London to assume his position as †
6 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020
a midshipman under his uncle
and captain of the ship, Maurice
Suckling.
On January 23, 1759, a few
months after little Horatio’s birth
at Burnham Thorpe, HMS Victo-
ry’s keel was laid in No. 2 Dock
at Chatham at the height of the
Seven Years’ War. She was finally
launched on May 7, 1765.
Four decades later, on October
21, 1805, Admiral Nelson and
Victory took part in Britain’s
greatest naval triumph over the
combined French and Spanish
fleets at Trafalgar, forever linking them.
Nelson would likely recognize parts of Sands, a 10-mile-long sandbank at the southern ABOVE Chatham Dock-
Chatham Dockyard today, including the Rop- end of the North Sea, lies six miles off Deal, cre- yard, circa 1777-1778,
ery, which was one of four supplying the Royal ating a haven for ships in the Downs. by Elias Martin, a
Navy in the eighteenth century, including Swedish genre, history,
Nelson lived ashore at the Three Kings Inn
and landscape painter
Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Woolwich. on Beach Street, facing the Downs. The build- and engraver from
On another occasion, I met Richard ing still exists, along the town’s historic Stockholm.
Woodman, the English maritime Georgian seafront.
novelist and historian, in Green- After a failed cutting out assault LEFT Captain Edward
wich, where we visited the on French ships across the Chan- Thornbrough Parker,
Painted Hall at the Old Royal nel at Boulogne on the night of who was a favorite of
Nelson and Lady Emma
Naval College. Nelson’s body August 15, Sir William and
Hamilton, from a min-
lay in state there before his Emma Hamilton arrived and iature by an unknown
funeral at St Paul’s in 1806. took rooms at the inn. artist. The portrait min-
The hall boasts a brilliant Ba- Captain Edward Parker, iature was discovered
roque interior conceived and Nelson’s aide de camp, was se- among a collection
executed by British artist Sir verely wounded during the ac- kept by Parker's de-
James Thornhill. scendants.
tion and died in late September.
At the nearby National Mari- Two years ago, with light rain fall-
time Museum, we viewed the ex- ing, we stood quietly in St George’s
tensive collection of Nelson artifacts, Churchyard with David Donachie next
PD Art
including his pigtail, his undress uniform to Parker’s grave, where Nelson wept over
coat, the shot hole visible, and his bloodied his dear friend’s loss.
breeches and stockings from Trafalgar. Once, while walking the streets in Bath, we
In the last two autumns, we’ve visited Deal, chanced upon No. 2 Pierrepont Street, where
the historic seaport on the border of the Eng- Nelson’s father arranged for him to recover after
lish Channel and the North Sea, hosted by Da- returning from Nicaragua stricken with malaria
vid Donachie, author of the John Pearce naval in 1781. A bronze plaque commemorates this
adventures, and the Nelson and Emma Trilogy. first of his many visits to the town.
On July 27, 1801, Admiral Nelson sailed This October 21st, marks the 215th anniver-
from Sheerness to the Downs anchorage at sary of the Battle of Trafalgar and Nelson’s
Deal between the Goodwin Sands and the death, a day that will awaken memories of our
Kent coast, with 30 ships under his command. brief brushes with his England.
There is no natural harbor there. The Goodwin – George Jepson
7 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020
AUTHOR’S NOTES
Photo by George D. Jepson.
BALKAN GLORY
From Conception to Completion
BY JULIAN STOCKWIN
ABOVE Julian Stockwin Balkan Glory is the 23rd title in the acclaimed
leans back in his study Thomas Kydd naval adventures set in the Great
where he is surrounded by Age of Fighting Sail. Quarterdeck asked Julian
Derek G. M. Gardner prints Stockwin to take us behind the scenes of the cre-
and other naval artifacts, ation and production of this book. His report be-
bringing the Thomas Kydd low gives an insight into his creative process and
novels alive. and the manuscript’s journey to its readers,
whether they “live the adventure” via physical
book, ebook, or audio book.
I
t’s always somewhat daunting starting a
new book – 100,000 words seems a big
target. When I first embarked on chron-
icling Thomas Kydd’s journey from
pressed man to admiral, I drew up a flowchart
of twelve titles, showing types of ships, rates
and ranks of the characters, location, point in
time, etc.
However, as I delved deeper into the histori-
cal record, I found so much to inspire the cre-
ative juices that this number grew consider-
ably. I now project at least twenty-six titles. †
8 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020
AUTHOR’S NOTES
PD – Art
“I chose this location partly because of the Battle of Lissa,
a little-known but rousing naval action . . .”
My Kydd books follow chronologically, and to time throughout my writing to fine-tune ABOVE English marine artist
Nicholas Pocock created this
Balkan Glory is set in 1811, in the Adriatic. I aspects of the plot development. I am a view of the Battle of Lissa
chose this location partly because of the Battle “visile” – I see the story unfolding in my fought in the Adriatic Sea be-
tween a British frigate squad-
of Lissa, a little-known but rousing naval ac- mind's eye, so I have to have the structure ron and a much larger
tion, partially to take Kydd and his doughty sorted and organized before I feel comfortable Franco-Venetian squadron of
frigates and lesser vessels on
crew to an area they’d never been to before. writing. Wednesday, March 13,
The Adriatic was a fascinating part of the 1811. The prize was control
world – a cul-de-sac of the sea extending from CHARACTERS of the strategically significant
Croatian island of Vis (Lissa in
the boot of Italy on one side and Ottoman I am a firm believer that novels should be Italian). French command of
Greece on the other far up to Venice and Tri- character-led. While the background of ac- the Adriatic was key to sup-
plying its growing army in the
este at its head. In between, on one side was tion is important, it is the stage on which the Illyrian Provinces. British Cap-
Italy; on the other, the Balkan shore. Corfu reader gets to know the characters. Of course, tain William Hoste and his
four ships, based on the is-
and the Ionians were gatekeepers to the whole, the central character is the main focus, but land, engaged the French in-
under the iron rule of Napoleon Bonaparte. one of the delights in writing a series is the vasion force under Bernard
chance to bring back various minor characters Dubourdieu. During the bat-
tle, the British sunk the
WHITEBOARDING from time to time, such as that great favorite French flagship, captured
With these preliminary thoughts, Kathy and I of Kydd readers, Tobias Stirk. two others, and dispersed
the remaining enemy ships.
sat down in front of a large whiteboard and I also enjoy exploring the motivations and Britain lauded its victory for
sketched out the book’s narrative arc. As al- behavior of various real-life historical charac- the disparity between the
forces and the signal Hoste
ways, I paid special attention to the beginning ters. In Balkan Glory, the colorful Sidney raised as the French ap-
and ending. I always endeavor to have the Smith once again appears on the pages. One proached: “Remember Nel-
ending reflect the title and theme of the book. of the most enigmatic characters I’ve ever son.”
We returned to whiteboarding from time come across is Klemens von Metternich. †
9 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020
PD - ART
PD - ART
PD - ART
“. . . I’ve always admired William Hoste, whose actions
at Lissa formed the basis for Kydd’s victory . . .”
It took quite some time delving into biogra- ABOVE LEFT Royal Navy Cap- William Hoste by Thomas Pocock.
tain William Hoste was a Lord
phies and the historical record until I had a Nelson protégé, a great frig-
sense of this man. And I’ve always admired ate captain during the Napo- And for something lighter, I enjoyed delving
leonic wars. He participated
William Hoste, whose actions at Lissa formed in six major actions, but was into Made in Sicily by Giorgio Locatelli. A
the basis for Kydd’s victory there. absent from Trafalgar while mouth-watering tribute to the cuisine of Sicily.
carrying gifts to the Dey of
Algiers.
On our return, Kathy and I brought back happy
RESEARCH memories by cooking dishes from this book. Or
By now, I have an extensive collection of refer- ABOVE CENTER Admiral Sir should I say Kathy cooked and I was the chief
William Sidney Smith served
ence books, both primary and secondary sourc- the Royal Navy in the Ameri- taster. And she had also spent a day in the great
es. For this book, as well as my general Age of can and French revolutionary kitchens of the Duchess of Palma learning
wars, rising to the rank of ad-
Sail references, among the many others I con- miral. Looking back later in something of the art of Sicilian cooking.
sulted here’s a random selection: life, Napoleon Bonaparte As usual, my professional electronic sea charts
said: “That man made me
miss my destiny.”
proved invaluable in plotting sailing routes and
A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and conditions. I have an extensive library of these
the Problems of Peace 1812 - 1822 by Henry ABOVE RIGHT Klemens von and can call up high seas or harbors with the
Metternich, an Austrian diplo-
Kissinger. mat, was the Austrian Em- click of a button.
pire’s foreign minister from
1809 and Chancellor from
Napoleon’s Satellite Kingdoms: Managing Con- 1821. In 1848, during the lib- LOCATION RESEARCH
quered Peoples by Owen Connolly. eral Revolutions, he was Although it’s not absolutely necessary to visit a
forced to resign.
location before writing about it, I feel that it is
Prince Metternich: Statesman and Lover by important for my books. As well as being able
Raoul Auernheimer. to consult various experts in situ – in museums,
universities, etc., there is the opportunity to get
Sicily: The Insecure Base by Desmond Gregory. a real feel for the geography, culture, and histo-
ry by being there. And there are the intangibles
The Hapsburg Monarchy by A J P Taylor. – the smells of a city, the nature of the light,
peculiar characteristics of the inhabitants, etc.
Remember Nelson: The Life of Captain Sir For this book, we set off on two research †
10 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020“One solitary frigate was anchored some miles from
the harbour, which nestled in the shadow of
a single massive brooding mountain.”
– Balkan Glory
© Alamy
trips. Our first took us to the magical city of uscript for Balkan ABOVE Palermo Harbor (circa
1795), with a view of the city,
Vienna, where Renzi would find himself Glory to my editor and Mount Pelegrino in the
caught up in Machiavellian plots and grand Oliver Johnson was background as rendered by an
unknown artist.
betrayals. The great Hofburg complex exists April 30. Not long
today virtually as how Renzi knew it. From after that, I received
Vienna, we went by car over the Alps to Trieste his comments,
and thence to Split near modern-day Du- which warranted
brovnik. cracking a bottle of
Our second location research expedition bubbles that eve-
took us to the glorious sun-drenched island of ning.
Sicily, where we spent some time in Catania, Oliver Johnson “Congratulations
Syracuse, and Palermo. once more on an
As usual, I took hundreds of photographs on absolutely splendid book,” he wrote. “You have
my pocket camera for reference later – and co- managed to bring together not only the intri-
pious verbal notes on my little Dictaphone for cate schemes and subterfuges of two royal
transcription every evening. courts but married their plots with page-turn-
ing naval action. In one way, though, this book
THE POLISH exceeds all your others: bringing in first Perse-
Once I finished the manuscript, it was the all- phone and then Cecilia as major players in the
important polish – final, careful reads several plot and giving them such magnificent agency
times, double-checking, etc. Then came the in both. A very interesting development in-
compilation of the list of dramatis personae and deed!”
the glossary. I left the choice of dedication to
last, and was pleased when I came across this COPY-EDITS AND PROOFING
rather apt comment from a rueful French revo- After resolving a small number of editorial que-
lutionary poet: “The trident of Neptune is the ries for Oliver, the manuscript moved to Hazel
sceptre of the world!” Orme, who has been the copy editor for all the
Kydd titles. Hazel picked up a small number of
EDITORIAL REVIEW grammatical inconsistencies and tightened the
My deadline for submitting the complete man- narrative in a few places. She has an excellent †
11 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020Photo courtesy of Julian and Kathy Stockwin.
ABOVE Julian and Kathy eye, and I rarely question her work. Her com- four different combinations of dots or pixels to
Stockwin at Messina on the
island of Sicily while con- ments provided another excuse for a small cele- create a printed reproduction of the original.
ducting research for bration. When the paper passes through the press, all
Balkan Glory.
“Many congratulations! As ever, you’ve ex- four inks hit the paper at once. Meanwhile, the
celled yourselves. This outing for Kydd is spec- interiors are printed, folded, sewn, and then
tacular. Terrific battle scenes . . . I much trimmed. The cover is then added on the bind-
enjoyed the scenes in Sicily and Vienna . . . ing line and then moved onto another machine
Great backdrops, including the Alps – this nov- to have the jacket applied.
el is so wide-ranging – I truly couldn’t put it
down.” MARKETING AND PUBLICITY
In early September, the Publicity Department
COVER ART AND MAPS at Hodder & Stoughton sent a copy of Balkan
For the maps for Balkan Glory, I sent detailed Glory out to all the literary editors in the na-
suggestions to my editor. He put these into a tional papers for reviews and features, and tar-
format for discussion at the monthly briefing geted, history-focused publications and
meeting attended by the Managing Director of bloggers. The book was also uploaded onto
Hodder & Stoughton, along with the Sales Di- NetGalley for bloggers to review. At this time, I
rector, the Head of Sales, and the Art Director. received my author copies – always a special
The Kydd series covers are wonderfully exe- moment to hold a new book in my hand. I’ll
cuted by graphic designer Larry Rostant and never forget the day Kydd arrived, and the thrill
Hodder and Stoughton’s graphics department. never goes.
Sarah Christie, the designer who always handles
my titles, worked with Larry to create the strik- INTO THE WILD
ing cover of Balkan Glory. Larry works from On October 1, Balkan Glory took a proud place
photographic images that are combined and in bookstores all over the United Kingdom and
manipulated to create the final art. was shipped out to customers from e-commerce
sites around the country. The ebook and audio-
PRINTING THE BOOK book were released at the same time as the
The jackets are printed in four colors: Cyan, hardback. Balkan Glory is available in the Unit-
Visit Julian Stockwin
online at Magenta, Yellow, and Black – or CMYK. Every ed States in an ebook edition, and the hardback
www.julianstockwin.com image on Larry’s artwork is broken down into will be available early in the New Year. n
12 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020INTERVIEW
David Poyer
A retrospective look at the Dan Lenson series
I
n December, American novelist David Poyer brings
World War III to an uneasy conclusion with the
launch of Violent Peace: The War with China – Af-
termath of Armageddon, the twentieth entry in the
Dan Lenson naval thrillers.
Over four decades, Poyer, drawing upon his active-duty
naval experience, has thrilled readers with his novels fea-
turing United States Navy officer Dan Lenson. The road
to war with China commenced in Tipping Point, the fif-
teenth title in the series, and has carried forward through
Onslaught, Hunter Killer, Deep War, and Overthrow.
This War with China series into focus a once-unimagi-
nable turning point in human history – a cataclysmic
world nuclear war – placing Poyer among the foremost
authors in present-day naval fiction.
Along with his wife, author Lenore Hart, he lives and
writes in the Tidewater region on the east coast, where he
remains close to his alma mater, the United States Naval
Academy, and the world’s largest naval base at Norfolk. David Poyer
Poyer’s recent nonfiction work, Heroes of Annapolis, is a
collection of inspiring stories about fourteen academy †
13 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020graduates from the American Civil progressed. How have you gone about rather than accepting those of others.
War to the present-day war on terror. developing his changing persona? He tries to do the right thing without
Catching up with Poyer recently, we thinking too much about whether it’s
asked him to take a retrospective look Well, Dan was pretty naïve at first. As what others will expect, or whether it
at Lenson’s career, and share the back- most ensigns are notorious for being. will benefit himself. Some call that
ground to the War with China novels. He saw things in black and white and “servant leadership” these days, but it’s
had little confidence in his own feel- not really a new concept.
– George Jepson ings or judgment. He believed that if
he did what others told him was the How has the navy in which Dan Len-
Violent Peace is the twentieth title in right thing to do, nothing bad would son serves changed since he first ap-
the Dan Lenson series. Did you envi- happen to him or others he loved. peared in The Med?
sion a lengthy series when the first title, The events in The Med and The Cir-
The Med, was published? cle rudely disabused him of these com- Oh, so many changes! Gender, racial,
forting illusions. Since then he’s technological. The only constant is the
Not really. I thought The Med would struggled to preserve a core of morality challenge of the sea. No matter how
be a one-off. Nor did I expect that the while dealing with the realities of life advanced your ship is, no matter the
Tiller Galloway or Hemlock County and military service. makeup of your crew, a moment’s care-
books would extend into series. They If readers have come to the series lessness or incompetence will doom
simply . . . grew, as more and more late, it’s worth mentioning that those you all. Fires, collisions, explosions,
possibilities within the settings and four early novels – The Med, The Gulf, catastrophes of all sorts – it takes un-
characters were “revealed” to me. Just The Circle, The Passage – have recently ending alertness to stay safe at sea,
as a channel’s twists and turns gradual- been reissued by Macmillan in quality whether you’re on a carrier or a sail-
ly reveal what lies ahead, finishing each trade paperback editions. boat. Which is where I should mention
book showed the way forward to the These days, as an O-7, he’s much my two sailing novels, Ghosting and
next one. My three Civil War at Sea more at ease with himself, though you The Whiteness of the Whale.
novels were the only grouping designed will note he still tends to ascribe any
that way from the beginning. success to luck and any failure to his The armament portrayed in the recent
own shortcomings. But he is compe- Lenson novels is frankly frightening.
Over the course of the series, Lenson’s tent, and has over the years evolved How close to operational reality are
professional and personal lives have and tested his own guidelines to action these weapons? †
14 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020with updates to tactics, equipment,
dialogue, and procedures. Some of
these I have to make up, though, in the
end, since none of my work is based on
classified sources. But a lot is available
open-source if you know where to
look.
Okay, what else? Hector Ramos’s
chicken plant memories come from
interviews with folks who worked in
the many such plants near my current
home. His Marine experiences are pret-
ty much from imagination, though
loosely based on the World War Two
island-hopping campaigns in the Pacif-
ic, though I consulted with current ac-
tive duty Marines in developing them.
For example, I read the World War II
Allied invasion plans for Taiwan in
I set Violent Peace in an alternative near from my naval service, or are exten- preparing that scenario in the books.
future, but none of these weapons or sions or reinterpretations therefrom. Nan Lenson’s career in biochemistry
tactics are impossible even now and The funny thing is, characters like and epidemiology and Blair Titus’s
many are in various stages of research Teddy and Hector Ramos start out as transition from the Department of
and development even as we speak. I sketches, but quickly acquire three-di- Defense into bare-knuckle politics are
assume that the pressures of a hot war mensional reality in my mind as the also based on research and interviews,
would speed development, though. series progresses. I enjoy that process! backstopped by peer vetters who read
The biggest change on our horizon, They do seem as real to me as actual my second draft and make extensive
of course, is artificial intelligence (AI). people I know. comments and suggestions. They con-
As I write this, an AI has just outma- tribute a great deal to making the work
neuvered a Navy fighter pilot for the The locations in the Lenson books dur- credible.
first time. The War with China series ing the war with China have been far A great deal of research and cogita-
has sketched out how that might play reaching. How have you researched tion goes into these books, ninety per-
out in some ways, but there will be lots them to provide the vivid details in cent of which is invisible (and should
of surprises, dead ends, money pits, your narratives? be) to those who pick them up for en-
and rabbit holes to go down over the tertainment rather than strategic prog-
next few decades, as our weapons (and I began with my own service and travel nostication!
those of our enemies) gain more and in the Pacific, Korea, Micronesia, etc.
more autonomy, and as we try to struc- I’ve never been in the Taklimakhan COVID 19 has had a dramatic impact
ture a coherent approach to their use. Desert or the specific Xinjiang moun- on the entire world. Has it affected
tain ranges where Teddy operates, but your approach to writing?
The primary characters in the recent I’ve seen the Pamirs and spent time in
Lenson books, aside from Dan, his Central Asia – Uzbekistan, Tadjikstan, Not much, though I’ve had to curtail
wife, and daughter, include Captain etc. Scenes set in Switzerland and Mos- some research travel I had planned. It
Cheryl Staurulakis and ex-SEAL Mas- cow, etc. are also based on personal was kind of unsettling portraying the
ter Chief Teddy Oberg. Are they travel. “Central Flower” flu pandemic in Deep
drawn from your real-life experiences? The shipboard scenes are pretty War forward, then having very much
straightforward for me to write, and I the same kind of disease spread world-
I don’t think the characters are – but have current contacts and fans on ac- wide in real life. Sometimes it’s hard
definitely their experiences are drawn tive duty who volunteer to help me to keep ahead of reality. But, really, †
15 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020my days are much the same as ever . . .
up, breakfast, write until noon, then
the rest of the day teaching or coach-
ing. I am planning a motorcycle trip
through the Blue Ridge to celebrate the
Violent Peace
BY DAVID POYER
appearance of Violent Peace, though.
W
Is a sequel to Violent Peace on the hori- orld War III is over . . . or is
zon? it? Superpowers race to fill
the postwar power vacuum
Aye, under way! Arctic Sea was con- in this page-turning thriller, the next in
ceived last year in Amsterdam with a the critically-acclaimed Dan Lenson se-
visit to the Scheepvartmuseum, the ries about war with China.
Dutch maritime museum, and a pre- Mutual exhaustion after a massive
sentation there on the race to develop nuclear exchange is giving way to a vio-
the Arctic. That book should appear in lent peace.
November or December of 2021. I While Admiral Dan Lenson motorcy-
should also mention, for those who cles across a post-Armageddon US in
enjoy military history, my collection of
search of his missing daughter, his wife
nonfiction biographical sketches, He-
Blair Titus lands in a spookily deserted,
roes of Annapolis, which came out late
riot-torn Beijing to negotiate the reunification of Taiwan with the
last year.
rest of China, and try to create a democratic government.
Has the final title in the series hove
But a CIA-sponsored Islamic insurgency in Xianjiang province is
into sight yet? hurtling out of control. Andres Korzenowski, a young case officer,
must decide whether ex-SEAL Master Chief Teddy Oberg – now
Everything is open. But after nearly the leader of a ruthless jihad – should be extracted, left in place, or
four decades writing these, I would like terminated.
to end the series gracefully, with a final
St. Martin’s Press, $27.99
volume that ties up Dan’s and maybe
US Hardback
Blair’s arc. The question is, once that’s
DECEMBER
complete, what comes next? I once
thought the Civil War series would
occupy my declining years, but they
weren’t renewed after the first three
books – and I have to admit, they were personal opinions, at least I was in the
the least popular. So, I’m open to new ring, fighting until the final bell. I do
ideas! enjoy the reader reviews on Amazon
and Goodreads, and now and then I
Is there anything else you would like to even adopt a suggestion. n
share with our readers?
With best wishes, yours in the Word,
Just my heartfelt thanks. I have done Dave Poyer
the best I could with these books and
am very grateful for everyone’s support
over the years. Not every story pleased
everybody (including me), but that Visit David Poyer online at
would have been an impossible expec- www.davidpoyer.com
tation. If sometimes my reach exceeded
my grasp, or I allowed myself a few
16 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020MARITIME ART FEATURE
British Marine Watercolors
PD - Art
A brief guide for collectors
BY JAMES MITCHELL
All images courtesy of John Mitchell Fine Paintings in London
ABOVE Detail from “A Frig- James Mitchell is the co-proprietor of John Mitchell
ate and a Yacht becalmed Fine Paintings which has been associated with tradi-
in the Solent,” oil on can-
tional British and European paintings for ninety years.
vas, 25” x 29”, by English
marine artist Charles
With a gallery just off Brook Street in the heart of Lon-
Brooking (1723-1759). don’s Mayfair, the business is now run by James and
William Mitchell, the grandsons of John Mitchell who
began the dealership in 1931, and their colleague James
Astley Birtwistle.
O
ver the centuries, “the silver sea,”
of which Shakespeare wrote,
shaped Britain’s island home and
deepest identity. Britons, many
believed, had saltwater running in their veins.
However, in modern Britain, our extraordi-
nary history as a seafaring nation is not nearly as
familiar as it once was. The great Age of Sail has
become the esoteric province of historians and
enthusiasts sustained by regular doses of Quar-
terdeck and the latest gripping novels of our fa- collectors of pictures from the same period.
vorite naval authors. Once-acclaimed sea painters – Brooking,
Similarly, English marine painting no longer Serres, Cleveley, Swaine, Pocock, among others
receives the attention it deserves, and its subject – aren’t a common currency in the way they
matter thought too specialized, even among were, say, half a century ago. Collectors no †
17 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020the Age of Fighting Sail and
begins to appreciate the
many rewards of picture col-
lecting.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Before looking at the illustra-
tions, it is worth bringing to
mind some general thoughts
about the rise of marine art
in England. The Anglo
Dutch Wars of the mid-sev-
enteenth century were the
earliest in oceanic sailing ship
conflicts that continued up
to 1815. As Britain fought its
“Deptford Creek, River Thames” main rivals – France, Spain,
by William Anderson (1757-1837)
and Holland – for dominion
pen and ink, and watercolor, 8” x 13”, signed and dated 1798
of the seas, images of these
wars were created by self-em-
longer purchase their naval engage- who was typical of the many painters ployed entrepreneurial artists who
ments, seascapes, and ship portraits to working from first-hand knowledge of needed to sell their work to earn a liv-
hang in offices and private homes. ships and the sea. ing.
Therefore, the marvelous exhibition A Scotsman brought up among ship- Not only were these wars determin-
“Spreading Canvas,” a comprehensive wrights, he came to London in his ing their futures, but the artists’ depic-
survey of the subject, held at the Yale twenties, where he spent the remainder tions of them had to pass the scrutiny
Center for British Art in New Haven, of his very long career. His first paint- of very knowledgeable and discerning
Connecticut, in the fall of 2016, was ing to be exhibited at the Royal Acade- patrons. Furthermore, only through
timely. The exhibit’s accompanying my in 1787 was “A View on the these same images of the war at sea,
three-hundred-page catalog is a schol- Thames.” The river’s life remained his and their wider diffusion as engravings,
PD - Art
arly, richly illustrated, and essential favorite subject. could the public at large gain any un-
addition to any maritime library. Although he exhibited until 1834, derstanding of events.
It is also a vivid reminder that when his style belongs to the eighteenth cen- The value to modern historians of
American philanthropist Paul Mellon tury. His views of shipping are close to period marine paintings is heightened
was buying up these eighteenth-centu- those of Brooking and Dominic Serres. by the degree of observation that many
ry marine paintings and watercolors in A son, Guy, died of wounds at the Bat- of the artists brought to their work. A
London in the 1960s and ’70s, there tle of Copenhagen in 1807. Anderson’s few of them were personally involved
was an abundant supply from which to watercolors routinely sell for between in the naval actions they depicted.
choose. Today it is still possible to own $4,000 and $7,000. Some of the work was immediate, and
fine originals by these very same artists Although I have mentioned oil much of it completed at a later date.
featured in the “Spreading Canvas” paintings above, I will, for this article, Still, invariably in the paintings and
catalog. Although scarce, these trea- concern myself principally with water- watercolors, particularly those from
sures are no more costly in real terms colors on paper. before 1815, there is a compelling au-
than in Mellon’s time. Through a selection from the many thenticity that comes from painstaking
The first painting I bought at auc- hundreds of examples sold by our firm accuracy based on the first-hand expe-
tion in the late 1980s was “Deptford over sixty years, I seek to persuade rience, with a balance of artistic flair.
Creek, River Thames,” a watercolor readers that owning a beautiful English In these respects, English marine
drawing by William Anderson (above), marine watercolor one connects with painting followed the example of †
18 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020the renowned Dutch artists,
Willem van de Velde the El-
der (1611-1693) and his son,
Willem van de Velde the
Younger (1633-1707), who
was, in this writer’s opinion,
the greatest marine painter of
all. Even the most basic of
comparisons between eigh-
teenth-century English paint-
ers and the Van de Veldes
would show the Dutchmen’s
far-reaching influence.
And they have been de-
scribed as “at once the glory
and the bane of English ma-
rine art. Their very excellence
set a standard which none of “The Review of the Fleet, June 1773: His Majesty (George III)
their successors have rivalled saluted by the Fleet at his arrival on board Barfleur at Spithead”
by Dominic Serres, R. A. (1719-1793)
but which many have at- pen and ink, and watercolor, 16” x 30”
tempted to repeat.”
They continued to influence marine
artists into the middle of the nine- “The Review of the Fleet, June Serres) of Liber Nauticus, an instruc-
teenth century, most notably J M W 1773: His Majesty (George III) tion book of 1805 for budding marine
Turner, who copied the younger Wil- saluted by the Fleet at his arrival on artists, from which a page illustrated
lem’s pictures and attributed his career board Barfleur at Spithead” (above) a the frontispiece of Patrick O’Brian’s
to him. watercolor by the elder Serres, was Aubrey and Maturin novels.
“That made me a painter,” he is re- painted as a souvenir of the review for Having had the good fortune to be
puted to have said after seeing Van de John Jervis, Earl of St. Vincent (1735- promoted by Charles Brooking before
Velde’s famous “Bridgewater Sea- 1823), a future First Lord of the Admi- the latter’s untimely death, Dominic
Piece” now in the museum at Toledo, ralty. Serres became the leading marine
Ohio. At the center of two columns of men painter of his time. A founder member
Van de Velde the Elder was himself o’ war in line astern, the 90-gun Bar- of London’s Royal Academy, Serres
present at numerous sea battles, furi- fleur has just received the king on enjoyed a long and productive career,
ously sketching away. Once established board. The Royal Standard has just and the patronage of many leading sea
in England, their clients’ list began broken at the mainmast, and all the officers.
with the king, his brother, and other ships are about to fire a twenty-one-
grandees. At the same time, their thou- gun salute in response; numerous cap- THE RE-DISCOVERY OF
sands of meticulous drawings of ships, tain’s barges and spectator boats add to CHARLES BROOKING
in part and whole, have left an unprec- the liveliness of the scene. Sold by John
edented record of the Restoration Na- Mitchell Fine Paintings in 2010, this Whether eighteenth-century marine
vy, and its opponents. watercolor is exceptional for the artist, artists could rival the Van de Veldes
In so many ways, therefore, the Van who is better known for his oil paint- may be disputed. Indeed, none came
de Veldes inadvertently established the ings. closer than Charles Brooking (1723-
rich tradition of marine painting in Good examples of Dominic Serres’ 1759), who broke away from their ste-
England. A century after their time, work on paper can still be found for reotype, at once reappraising the sub-
both Dominic Serres and then his son, under $10,000. He is perhaps most ject and introducing freshness, origi-
John, enjoyed the title “Marine Painter familiar to readers of Quarterdeck as nality of composition, and a greater
to His Majesty the King.” one of the artists (with his son J. T. emphasis on atmospheric conditions. †
19 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020becalmed in the Solent” (below left).
His paintings re-surfaced in the 1960s
after over two centuries in obscurity.
At Christie’s in November 1963, a
fine Brooking realized a record, far
above any previous figure, of 5,200
guineas (equivalent to more than
£90,000/$117,000 today). As very of-
ten happens, news of a record price
“flushes out” other examples from sur-
prised owners, and within four
months, three more Brookings sold at
Sotheby’s, each for more than twice the
previous sum.
“The yacht Mary at anchor, with a royal barge and Two years later, Mellon bought an
other small vessels in attendance” excellent pair of paintings by the artist
by Willem van de Velde the Younger (1633-1707)
pen and ink, and wash, 6 ½ ” x 9 ¾”, signed with initials W.V.V. from our firm. From a collecting per-
spective, it is interesting to consider
that today the example here costs less
than a recently completed yachting
scene by the well-known yachting art-
ist, J. Steven Dews (born 1949), so
great has been the shift in tastes.
Lest you now feel discouraged by
this talk of heady sums of money, let us
return to the article’s focus, the artists
whose watercolors can still be bought
today for more modest sums.
WILLEM VAN DE VELDE
THE YOUNGER
(1633-1707)
“The Yacht Mary at Anchor” (top left)
was recently sold by us to a US collec-
tor for $17,500. This drawing is one of
the more costly ones featured in this
article.
Van de Velde’s finest oil paintings
can sell for millions of dollars. Draw-
ings by him and his father are therefore
in demand.
“A Frigate and a Yacht becalmed in the Solent” Today, good Van de Velde drawings
by Charles Brooking (1723-1759) start at around $7,500. This one shows
oil on canvas, 25” x 29”
William of Orange setting off back to
Holland following his marriage to
Brooking’s watercolors are very space needs to be devoted to him, Princess Mary in London in November
rare today, and as his oil paintings other than illustrating a superb exam- 1677. The artist’s father accompanied
are what he is renowned for, little ple of his work, “A Frigate and a Yacht them. The latter recorded the voyage †
20 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020in a separate sequence of drawings
of his own.
Just over a decade later, the
Dutch prince returned to Eng-
land to depose his father-in-law
(and uncle), James II, and become
King William III in what is now
known as the Glorious Revolu-
tion. This drawing would have
helped Van de Velde paint his oil
of the same subject now in Lon-
don’s National Maritime Muse-
um.
PETER MONAMY (1681-1749) “A Calm, with men working on a boat, and larger vessels beyond”
by Peter Monamy (1681 - 1749)
Peter Monamy was probably largely oil on canvas,13” x 20¾”
self-taught, closely following Willem
Van de Velde the Younger’s style and
copying his paintings. He was not an
innovative artist but emerged with
Samuel Scott as one of the two leading
figures in the first generation of British
marine painters. “A Calm, with men
working on a boat, and larger vessels
beyond” (top right) is typical of his
style, with figures in a dark foreground
and shipping becalmed in the back-
ground. We sold it at an art show in
New York City in 2012 for $8,500.
NICHOLAS POCOCK
(1740-1821)
A Bristol-born artist, Pocock belongs
to the group of marine artists who
spent extensive periods at sea. This
“Shipping in Southampton Water, with Calshot Castle and
company included both Dominic and the Isle of Wight beyond”
John Serres, the Cleveley family, Sam- by Nicholas Pocock (1740 - 1821)
uel Atkins, and numerous others. Po- pen and ink, and watercolor, 11” x 16”, signed and dated 1788
cock headed this group of seafaring
painters, in terms of time at sea if not
in terms of art. He did not give up his battle – the First of June 1794 – a dis- Wight beyond” (above). Our firm sold
career as a mariner until the age of for- tinction he shared with Van de Velde this watercolor in 1972 and is
ty. Throughout his voyages, he created the Elder. now back with us for sale.
detailed sketches. Pocock’s watercolors are character-
Encouraged by Sir Joshua Reynolds, ized by his color scheme of blues, SAMUEL ATKINS
Pocock became a leading figure among greens, and pale yellows, as shown in (ACTIVE 1787-1808)
the naval artists of his time. He was “Shipping in Southampton Water,
one of the very few present at a naval with Calshot Castle and the Isle of Samuel Atkins began exhibiting at †
21 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020Sold by us in 2011,“An East
Indiaman, with men on the
yards taking in sail” (above top)
is one of the finest watercolors
we have ever seen, and com-
pares with his best work which
resides in London’s Victoria &
Albert Museum.
PHILIPPE-JACQUES
DELOUTHERBOURG
(1740-1812)
Philippe-Jacques De Louther-
bourg arrived in England from
France (although Swiss-born),
“An East Indiaman, with men on the yards taking in sail” and he painted battle-pieces,
by Samuel Atkins (active 1787 - 1808) landscapes, and coastal views.
Pen and ink, and watercolor, 14” x 21”, signed “His drawings are spirited in line
and pleasant in color, frequently with
numerous figures well grouped,” to
quote English art historian Martin
Hardie. Among them is “Cowes Castle,
Isle of Wight” (see on the next page).
Many of his marine drawings relate
to his major battle paintings, which
became famous through engravings, for
example, his “Battle of Camperdown.”
The original oil painting is at Tate
Britain Gallery, London.
JOHN THOMAS SERRES
(1759-1825)
In 1798 John Thomas Serres succeeded
his father Dominic as Marine Painter
to George III. He was also appointed
Marine Draughtsman to the Admiral-
ty, spending many months at sea in
1801, charting Brittany’s coast to help
“A Launching at Deptford”
by Samuel Atkins (active 1787 - 1808) Britain’s naval blockade of Brest and
pen and ink, and watercolor, 11” x 15½”, signed the other major French ports.
Serres drew with a vigorous, strong
line in a rapid calligraphic manner,
the Royal Academy of Arts in 1787, Between 1796 and 1804, he voyaged which, once you have seen, you would
the same year as William Anderson, to the East Indies. Another watercolor not mistake a second time. Many of his
and the following year he was advertis- by Atkins similar to “A Launching at watercolors, both large and small, were
ing his services as a teacher of marine Deptford” (above) sold in Oxford in painted in a long, panoramic format.
drawing near the Strand in London. October 2018 for $5,600. His colors and highlights tend to be †
22 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020more pronounced than those of artists
like Anderson and Cleveley. A water-
color like the younger Serres’ “HMS
Phoebe off Toulon” (middle right)
would be valued at around $9000.
“King George III cruising in a cap-
tured French Frigate” (bottom right), a
delightful drawing of a scene which
Serres witnessed: soon after the Battle
of the Nile in 1798, a captured French
ship (re-named San Fiorenzo) arrived at
Weymouth on the Dorset coast. On
summer holiday with his family, King “Cowes Castle, Isle of Wight”
George III boarded the prize for a sail. by Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg (1740-1812)
pen and ink, and watercolor, 9” x 15”, signed
The Royal Standard flies from the
mainmast, with Portland Bill visible at
the extreme left. Serres carefully in-
scribed the drawing with the title at the
bottom.
“The River Thames, London, with
St. Paul’s Cathedral in the distance”
(see page 26), a charming scene was
priced at $3,250.
JOHN CLEVELEY
THE YOUNGER
(1747-1786)
One of twins born to a shipwright and
marine painter, John Cleveley the El-
“HMS Phoebe off Toulon”
der, at Deptford near London, Cleve-
by John Thomas Serres (1759- 1825)
ley followed his father into the royal watercolor on paper, 8” x 14”, signed and dated 1794
dockyard and took drawing lessons at
the Woolwich academy. He was a skil-
ful draughtsman and could handle na-
val vessels and small fishing craft with
equal proficiency. “A British frigate
and other shipping off Tenerife” (see
page 26) a breezy little watercolor,
costs $4,500.
ROBERT CLEVELEY
(1747-1809)
Robert Cleveley’s watercolors are often
confused by the “uninitiated” with
those of his twin brother, John, but the “King George III cruising in a captured French Frigate”
differences can be detected. Recent re- by John Thomas Serres (1759 - 1825)
search suggests that Robert spent † pen and ink, and watercolor, signed
23 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020extended periods serving in
the navy, which would ac-
cord with the expert knowl-
edge shown in an “Admirals’
Conference off the Isle of
Wight, 1800” (see page 25)
an exceptional watercolor
showing British ships-of-
the-line at anchor, with a
spectacular array of flags and
pennants flying. The exqui- “The River Thames, London, with St. Paul’s Cathedral in the distance”
site detail achieved, merely with the tip by J. T. Serres (1759-1817)
pen and ink, and watercolor, 4½” x 9”, signed and dated 1800
of a fine brush, is quite breathtaking.
MORE LOOKING AND LEARNING
In a brief introduction to the subject
such as this, it is, of course, not possi-
ble to encompass as many artists as one
would like. Of necessity, I have con-
centrated on a selection of pictures of
which I have personal experience. The
school of marine painting in Britain
continued to evolve in the early nine-
teenth century.
In addition to J M W Turner, there
were many other painters of ships and
the sea whose work lies outside the
scope of this article but merits just as
much consideration as those I have fea-
tured.
Artists such as John Christian Schet-
ky (1778-1874), François Francia
(1772-1839), John Sell Cotman
(1782-1842), Sir Augustus Wall Cal-
“A British frigate and other shipping off Tenerife”
cott (1779-1844), Clarkson Stanfield by John Cleveley the Younger (1747-1786)
(1793-1867) and George Chambers pen and ink, and watercolor, 7½” x 10”, signed and inscribed Tenerife
(1803-1840) all continued a rich tradi-
tion well into Victorian times.
Each left some memorable images of English marine watercolors, it is sur- It is worth making an appointment
maritime life in the period. I encourage prisingly hard to study the real thing in the Print Room at the Yale Center
readers to find out more about them up close. for British Art to look at the magnifi-
and the earlier artists upon whom I Many museums in the United King- cent examples in their print cabinets.
have dwelled. Most of one’s research dom and United States have sizeable Sadly, nowadays it isn't easy to do so at
and learning will have to be done on- holdings, but they are seldom on dis- the National Maritime Museum in
line and in libraries. Unless one is for- play because of a neurosis in the muse- London, where they have the most ex-
tunate enough to have a neighbor or um world about the damage caused to cellent collection of its kind in the
friend who owns a collection of them by daylight. world. †
24 | QUARTERDECK | AUTUMN 2020The Victoria and Al-
bert Museum, by con-
trast, has a welcoming
study room in which to
admire their many su-
perlative drawings. As
one learns more about
the history of marine
painting, whether in
Britain in the eigh-
teenth or early nine-
teenth centuries, or
indeed in France, one
might become familiar
with an artist whose
work one might like to “An Admirals’ Conference off the Isle of Wight, 1800”
collect. by Robert Cleveley (1747 - 1809)
Alternatively (and this watercolor on paper, 11” x 18”, one of a pair
would be my recom-
mendation), one may wish to try and land since there are still a handful of
own a few choice examples represent- dealers in London, such as myself, who enthusiasts in its thrall. n
ing the school as a whole. How to do specialize in English marine watercol-
so could – and should – be the subject ors and oils, not least because this is BIBLIOGRAPHY
of a book in itself, and, for space con- where they continue to come on to the
siderations, I can only give the briefest open market. Expert advice on the res- E. H. H. Archibald, Dictionary of Sea
outline of advice here. toration of watercolors is available. Painters, Antique Collectors's Club,
Whether you are a picture dealer, A drawing that appears faded, spot- 1980
like myself, or a private buyer of pic- ted, or sun-damaged after two hundred
tures, a “collector,” the knowledge re- and fifty years can be improved mod- David Cordingly et al., The Art of the
quired is the same. Considerations of estly, and certainly much more success- Van de Veldes, National Maritime Mu-
authenticity, quality, physical condi- fully than was possible even thirty years seum, 1982
tion, and price all come into play in ago. Similarly, the right advice on the
buying pictures, whether it be an im- mounting and glazing of old watercol- Roger Quarm and Scott Wilcox, Mas-
portant oil from the Renaissance selling ors is essential to their long-term well- ters of the Sea: British Marine Water-
for hundreds of thousands of dollars or being, and again, these services are all colours, Phaidon 1987
an English watercolor from the eigh- at a specialist dealer's disposal.
teenth century for a few thousand. I Any collector will tell you that the Nicholas Tracy, Britannia's Palette –
recommend the advice of a profession- best way to come to an understanding The Arts of Naval Victory, McGill
al. of paintings is through daily contact, Queen's University Press 2007
One must accept, too, that despite which possession brings. This is never
the impression of abundant choice more true than enjoying a little group E. Hughes (editor), Spreading Canvas –
which I may have given earlier, signifi- of watercolors painted during the great Eighteenth-Century British Marine
cant examples of the work of some of Age of Fighting Sail in the comfort of Painting, Yale University Press, 2016
the artists mentioned are no longer ob- one's own home, as I am fortunate
tainable today. One should always fa- enough to do. These are not financial
vor a superior painting by a less speculations, after all, and should be Visit John Mitchell Fine Paintings
well-known artist over a weak effort by appreciated solely for what they are: online at
a famous name. windows into an extraordinary period www.johnmitchell.net.
One may well require a trip to Eng- of history which continues to hold us
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