S. Spilman (late 18th/early 19th Century) A View of the Home Fleet at Spithead from Southsea Front, 1803 signed 'S. SPILMAN. PAINTER' (lower right); dated '1803' ('18' in the upper left corner and '03' in the upper right corner) oil on panel 40 x 160cm (15 3/4 x 63in). Footnotes: Provenance Philip Candler Shepheard, Abbots Hall, Norfolk and thence by descent. Anon. sale, Sotheby's, London, 12 November 1997, lot 9. Property of a Nobleman, UK (purchased from the above). This early view of Spithead featuring H.M.S. Victory and H.M.S. Kent is highly unusual on a number of counts: unlike the more commonly-seen naïve pictures of prize farm animals such as cattle and sheep, naïve maritime pictures are rare. Rarer still are naïve maritime pictures dating from the first years of the 19th century, such as the present work which is dated 1803. Indeed it is the earliest dated naïve maritime picture we have come across and benefits from being in remarkable condition for a picture of its age. A similar, but unsigned and undated version of this composition is held in the British Folk Art collection at Compton Verney, Warwickshire. Whilst the artist, S. Spilman, is not recorded, it is worth remembering that many of the 'easel' maritime painters of the early 19th century (such as John Ward of Hull) began their careers in relative anonymity as house painters and scene painters in theatres. Indeed one can see from its shape that the present work may well have started life as part of a decorative scheme. Although sailors are most often associated with scrimshaw work, woolwork pictures, Napoleonic prisoner of war bone models and automata, Spilman may perhaps have been a retired sailor as the ships are so well observed and so accurately drawn. The armorial on the side of the coach in the centre-left of the picture had traditionally been ascribed to Lord Howe, who had been Admiral of the Fleet. However, Howe died in 1799 so unless this is a retrospective scene, this association may be incorrect. Research undertaken on the carriage and its passenger by Roger W. Whitworth has proved inconclusive: 'Unfortunately the image of the armorial on the coach door is very indistinct but appears to blazon as: argent, a bend between three or two ? sable. Without the missing smaller charges (?) immediate identification of the arms is not possible and we find ourselves looking for aspects of Earl Howe's pedigree, in particular descendants, that could be alive in 1803 when the painting was created. Further any helpful coronets that might be present are invisible and the mantling gives no further clues. The person in the carriage who is visible does appear to be a lady and not Earl Howe. Of course it may be suggested that Earl HOWE is in the coach but not visible in the image. This could only be the case if the painting, which was is clearly created in 1803, was that of an event no later than 1799, when Earl Howe died. The arms of the Howe earldom blazon as: or, a fess between three boars heads erased sable. This means that they are not the arms we see in the image, as we would expect the background colour of the arms in the image to appear in yellow and the dividing bar to be horizontal. Clearly, despite this, it is likely that Richard Howe (1726-1799) 1st Earl Howe is connected with the image, as a result of his role as Admiral of the Fleet. Having established that it is extremely unlikely that he is present in the image and that the person who appears in the image is a lady we look at other possible candidates and their associated arms by marriage. The eldest was Lady Sophia Charlotte Howe (1762-1835), 2nd Baroness Howe, who in 1787 married Penn Assheton Curzon (1757-1797). The Curzon family arms blazon as: argent, on a bend sable three popinjays or. These arms are differenced by a number of family branches by the inclusion of two or three lions heads sable. Notably her son Richard William Curzon (1796-1870) was in 1721 created Earl Howe (second creation). I would expect that the arms in the image are likely to be those of the eldest daughter. The only problem with this possibility is that the arms should have been impaled with her father's arms, the Curzon family arms appearing in dexter and the Howe family arms in sinister. This would have made the resulting image even more difficult to manage. There is also the possibility that the arms in the image, being so minute, have been incorrectly displayed and were intended to represent the Howe family arms.' We are grateful to Roger W. Whitworth (Whitworth Genealogy Research Services) for his assistance in cataloguing this painting. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing