Collection John Bouverie (1722/1723-1750), England (his mark on the backing paper of the mount; L. 325.)

By descent

Sale ‘The BOUVERIE Collection’, London (Christie’s), 20 July 1859

Private collection, The Netherlands

 The present pencil sketch shows a flute viewed from the port quarter. Flutes or fluyten were a Dutch type of cargo vessel. Designed with maximized cargo space, they had several advantages. They could be operated with a small crew and were able to venture into shallow waters. This flute appears to be lifting or dropping her anchor, her main course half clewed up. There is hardly any wind. Van de Velde the Younger no doubt drew this ship from life, and he captured the scene with a striking economy of means, showing his unsurpassed command of the medium. Van de Velde achieved soft, painterly effects while also employing the thinnest lines to indicate the rigging.   

This drawing belonged to the British antiquarian John Bouverie. Although little-known, his collection of drawings was one of the most important in Britain at that moment.

Willem van de Velde the Younger and his father and teacher Willem van de Velde the Elder were the most industrious draughtsmen and the most famous marine artists of the Dutch Golden Age. Their depictions of shipping are artistic highpoints of the period while many of these scenes represent events of massive importance, such as episodes of heroic sea-battles, and have shaped the historical image of the Dutch Golden Age as well. Whereas Willem van de Velde the Younger is primarily known as a painter, both father and son produced a vast body of drawings. The greatest holding of van de Velde drawings is in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, while the second largest public collection is in the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam.

Shortly after Willem’s birth the family moved to Amsterdam. Willem initially trained with his father but was sent off to Weesp around 1648 to finish his education with Simon de Vlieger. In 1652 he was back in Amsterdam and married Petronella le Maine but divorced her only one year later. In 1666 he married his second wife Magdalena Walraven. By the closing of 1672 Willem and his father had left for England for good, settling in Greenwich, in the outskirts of London. At first they primarily worked for King Charles II, who provided them with lodgings in Greenwich and allowed them to use the Queen’s House as their studio, a handsome building designed by Inigo Jones and presently part of the Maritime Museum which houses so many outstanding works by the Van de Veldes. In 1674 a royal warrant stipulated that both artists were to receive an annual pension of one hundred Pounds while to were also to receive payment for every painting individually. From the outset, the Van de Veldes also worked for the king’s brother, the future James II, who continued patronizing them after his brother’s death in 1685. In 1691 the Van de Veldes settled in Westminster, London, where they remained until their deaths. They are buried alongside each other in the church of St James, Piccadilly. Willem the Younger had two sons, Willem III and Cornelis, who also became marine painters and continued to work in their father’s style. Van de Velde also had English followers, namely Peter Monamy and Robert Woodstock, who further contributed to his fame by producing versions and imitations.

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