Description
Inscribed on a contemporary label verso 'To Vice Admiral Fanshaw K.C.B - A souvenir from Mr & Mrs Tagliaferro, Malta, May 186...' oil on board
Dimensions
23cm x 31cm (9in x 12in)
Footnote
Note:Arthur Fanshawe was born in 1794 the third and youngest son of Captain Robert Fanshawe, Resident Commissioner of Plymouth Dockyard. Fanshawe joined the Navy aged 10 and was made Captain by the time he was 22. After a rapid rise through the ranks and time spent in the Eastern Mediterranean, off West Africa and in North America and the West Indies Fanshawe was made Vice-Admiral in 1857 and from 1858 to 1860 he was Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in the Flagship Marlborough. In 1860 Fanshawe returned to Britain as Commander-in-Chief at Devonport. He was made Admiral in 1862 and died in 1864 aged 70 after 60 years in the Navy.
The donor of the painting was probably Biagio Tagliaferro, one of the principal merchants in Malta and President of The Malta Bank, although Giacinto Tagliaferro who owned a Maritime Insurance Company remains a possibilty.
We are grateful to Albert Ganado for his help in the preparation of this entry.