GIOVANNI SCHRANZ (1794-1882)
H.M.S. RALEIGH ENTERING GRAND HARBOUR MALTA
£27,000
Auction: 23 May 2003 at 12:00 BST
Description
Oil on canvas
30.5cm x 49cm (12in x 20in) and two others by the same hand, 'H.M.S. Zebra entering Grand Harbour Malta' and 'H.M.S. Cambrian entering Grand Harbour Malta' all three of similar dimensions (3)
Footnote
Provenance:Purchased by the 9th Earl of Dalhousie on his way to or home from Egypt and thence by descent
Note 1:HMS Zebra was a 'Cruizer class brig-sloop of 18 guns, launched in 1815 and wrecked in the Levant in 1840. Between October 1828and January 1829, when stationed in the Mediterranean, her Captain was Commander Edmund Williams Gilbert. The ship is depicted flying the blue ensign to designate her as being under the supreme command of Sir Edward Codrington GCB, Vice-Admiral of the Blue squadron and C-in-C Mediterranean 1826-28.
Gilbert was born in1787 and was from an old Devon family- Gilbert of The Priory- that counted among its members both Sir Walter Raleigh and the 16th century explorer, Sir Humphrey Gilbert. He joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer in 1799 and was appointed Midshipman in 1803, having by then seen much service in 'boat actions' in home waters. He served in the Caribbean in 1805-06 and in the Mediterranean in 1807-11, gaining much combat experience and being commissioned Lieutenant in 1808. He was wounded at the bombardment of Algiers in 1816 and remained serving in the Mediterranean for some years thereafter, being promoted to Commander in 1822. HMS Zebra was among his first commands and he subsequently joined the Coastguard. He died in 1849.
2HMS Raleigh was a 'cruizer' class brig-sloop of 18 guns, launched in 1806 and sold in 1841. Between January and July 1828 her Captain was Commander John Burnet Dundas and she was stationed in the Mediterranean. At the time, the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean was Sir Edward Codrington GCB, Vice Admiral of the Blue Squadron. HMS Raleigh is depicted flying the blue ensign that designates her as a ship of his squadron.
Dundas, a baronet's son born in 1794, had entered the Royal Navy as a volunteer in 1807, becoming Midshipman in 1809 and seeing service on the Home and North American stations until 1815. Commissioned Lieutenant in 1815, he served in the Mediterranean 1816-1823 and then on the Halifax, Nova Scotia station until 1828, when he was given command of HMS Raleigh in the Mediterranean. He was promoted to Captain in July 1828 and relinquished command of HMS Raleigh at that time. Eventually becoming an Admiral, Dundas died in 1868.
3HMS Cambrian was a frigate, or 5th rate, of 40 guns, launched in 1797 and wrecked in the Mediterranean in 1828. Between July 1820 and January 1828, her Captain was Captain Gawen William Hamilton. HMS Cambrian was stationed in the Mediterranean between 1820 and 1828, apart from a brief period at home in 1824. The painting can be dated 1826-28 because the ship is depicted flying the blue ensign, which designated her as a ship of the Blue Squadron, the squadron of Vice Admiral Sir Edward Codrington GCB who was C-in-C Mediterranean 1826-28.
Hamilton, of the family of Hamilton of Killyleagh Castle , Co. Down, was born in Paris in 1783 and entered the Royal Navy in 1801, being commissioned Lieutenant in 1807 and seeing action in the Caribbean in 1803. Promoted to Commander in 1810, he served at the siege of Cadiz in that year and returned home in 1811 to be promoted captain, subsequently serving in the Mediterranean 1811-14. After the war in Europe ended, he served in North American waters, commanding the frigate HMS Havannah, in command of which ship he served as part of Napoleon's escort to St. Helena in 1815. Assuming command of HMS Cambrian in 1820, he took her to the Mediterranean and commanded her in operations during the Greek revolution, against pirates and on detached duty at the Battle of Navarin on October 20th 1827. HMS Cambrian was wrecked after a collision in January 1828 but no blame was attached to Hamilton at the subsequent court-martial. Hamilton was created a Companion of the Order of Bath (CB) in 1815 and received knighthoods in the Russian Order of St Anne and the French Order of St Louis following the Battle of Navarin. He died in 1834.