WITH the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar beckoning next year, and market-fresh, unrestored marine pictures in ever-dwindling supply, it was hardly surprising to see this exceptionally well-preserved Panorama of Portsmouth Harbour, right, by Thomas Elliott (fl. 1790-1800) inspire intense, multiple-estimate bidding at Christie’s South Kensington’s (19.5/12% buyer’s premium) May 26 Maritime Sale.
This impressively-scaled signed 2ft 10in x 4ft 7in (86cm x
1.40m) canvas, entered by a private vendor who is thought to have
acquired the painting from the Parker Gallery in the 1970s, had
been featured in loving close-up on the front cover of the
catalogue. Fine details like rigging are notoriously susceptible
when early marine pictures enter a restorer's studio, but in this
case, though the canvas had been relined, the paint surface was
superbly preserved with all the ropes and figures in near-pristine
condition.
The ship in the centre of the composition was identified as a
flagship of the Red Squadron - one of the most important command
vessels in a Nelsonian battle fleet - and, apart from the
impressive array of military shipping on show, the subject was also
desirable for showing plenty of topographical details of the Royal
Navy dockyards at Portsmouth during the period of the Napoleonic
Wars. After lengthy competition on the telephone from an American
underbidder, the painting was finally knocked down to an "anonymous
buyer" at a sale-topping £82,000 against an estimate of
£15,000-25,000.
Overall, this CSK marine sale netted a hammer total of £733,570
from 297 picture lots, 131 of which (33 per cent) were left unsold.
This outcome was some way below the pre-sale estimate of
£854,355-£1.25m, but, although bidding was highly selective for
anything that had been through the marine painting treadmill, there
were renewed signs of life in the market for contemporary yachting
pictures.
A fresh injection of interest from American buyers was thought to
have firmed up the prices for historic yachting subjects by the
likes of Stephen J. Renard (b.1943) and Martin Mackrill (b.1962),
which have been stagnating for the last year or so. Here at CSK a
European private buyer had to go to £22,000 (estimate
£10,000-15,000) to see off the opposition for a 3ft 4in x 5ft (1.01
x 1.52m) Martyn Mackrill canvas, bottom right, of the J-class
yachts 'Valkyrie (III)' and 'Britannia' racing off Hunter's Quay
during the 1895 Clyde Regatta. A slightly smaller Stephen J. Renard
canvas of 'Britannia', 'Candida' and 'Astra' racing off the Royal
Yacht Squadron, Cowes, in 1928 was another solid performer at an
upper estimate £15,000.
Back to top
Follow us on:
