Burning Sinking On River Plate HMS Bombay Ship Follower Richard Brydges Beechey

Description

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1 Historical 19th Century Oil Painting Dramatic Burning Sinking On River Plate HMS Bombay 84-Gun Ship of the line follower Of Richard Brydges Beechey.

Painting in the style follower of Richard Brydges Beechey.

Impress your guests or your clients with this dramatic emotional marine disaster masterpiece for your home or office.

Oil on canvas.

Title “Burning of H.M.S Bombay” Follower of Richard Brydges Beechey.

Inscribed verso.

Circa 1870 late 19th century Victorian era.

Initial signed bottom corner by the English school artist Hr.

Set in a recent larson juhl moulded gilt wood frame which really enhances this work even further.

A delightful display size with the frame being 71 cm wide and 56.3 cm high.

Subject seascape marine view of the known HMS ship Bombay which is sinking on the River Plate Uruguay your focus is drawn to the ferocious burning fires with various smouldering thick smoke billowing throughout the ship, only 1 mast remains which is also starting to fall apart in total ablaze. To the stern of the ship you can see desperate sailor crew clinging & climbing down ropes in such a hurry to escape being burnt & jump into the longboat waiting below. 1 of the ships main masts can be seen floating to the lower right. In the foreground to the left a longboat which is full of escaping survivors, most are watching on at a safe distance, hoping that more crew are saved. Two further longboats full of other crew survivors are further back middle left.

In our opinion this is exceptional historic marine masterpiece.

HMS Bombay was an 84-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 17 February 1828 at Bombay Dockyard. She was a Canopus-class ship of the line, its tons burthen weight 2279 bm. Length of the ship 59.08m (gundeck). Its beam 15.964m. Depth of hold 6.86m. Propulsion sails & since 1861 added a steam engine. Sail plan full rigged ship. Armament 84 guns, on the gundeck having 28 x 32 pounders and 2 x 68 pounder carronades. On the upper gundeck having 32x 24 pounders. Quarterdeck 6 x 24 pounders and 10 32 x pounder carronades. Forecastle 2 x 24 pounders and 4 x 32 pounder carronades.

She was fitted with screw propulsion in 1861 at Chatham Dockyard. This was a significant modification and involved cutting the ship in half and inserting a section to lengthen her, as well as fitting a Humphrys, Tennant and Dykes steam engine that gave a speed of 10 knots. Under the command of Captain Colin Andrew Campbell, she was sent to South America as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Charles Elliot.On 8 December 1864, members of the crew fielded a cricket side to play against the Buenos Aires Cricket Club in the opening of the BACC's new game field in Parque Tres de Febrero in Palermo, Buenos Aires, located where the Galileo Galilei planetarium is today. That day the BACC defeated the Bombay team by 85 runs to 31.

The ship would be destroyed in a fire on the River Plate, in a freak target practice accident. Her efficient ventilation system spread the fire of unknown origin during the target practice off Uruguay near Isla de Flores near Montevideo in the River Plate on 14 December 1864. destroying her and costing the lives of 93 of her crew of 619. At the time the ship was under sail, and the engines were not in use. The fire was reported at 3.35pm, having started in the area of the aft-hold. It spread quickly; by 4pm flames were coming out of the hatchways and setting the sails on fire. The ships boats were launched, but many men went into the water; some were killed by the ship's anchors when the cables holding them burnt through and they dropped into the sea. At 8:25pm, the ship's after gunpowder magazine exploded and she quickly sank in shallow water. Bombay's bowsprit remained visible above the water for some years afterwards, though it had disappeared by 1885

Biography of Richard Brydges Beechey (1808 – 8 March 1895) was an Anglo-Irish marine painter and admiral in the Royal Navy. His works have been exhibited & sold at galleries and auction houses around the world with the highest sold price being for $64,331 US dollars.Beechey was born to two British painters, Sir William Beechey and his second wife, Anne Jessop. His brothers included the British sea captain & painter Frederick William Beechey, the portraitist Henry William Beechey and the painter George Duncan Beechey.

Beechey joined the Royal Navy at the age of 14, and he eventually rose to the rank of admiral. Like his father and some of his brothers, he was a celebrated painter, who illustrated various ports and naval scenes. After the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth, Beechey sailed in HMS Blossom, commanded by his brother Frederick William Beechey, into the Pacific, and then to the Bering Strait to attempt to support the Franklin Expedition. He was promoted lieutenant in 1828. Then he served in the Mediterranean, and in 1835 was seconded to a survey of Ireland. He was made commander in 1846, and then in 1851 was promoted captain. In 1879, long after the end of his active naval career, he was promoted to the rank of vice-admiral on the retired list.

After his retirement from the navy in 1864, he settled in Ireland, living for many years at Monkstown, and later in Pembroke Road, Dublin. He regularly exhibited paintings of maritime subjects at the Royal Hibernian Academy, of which was made an honorary member in 1868. In about 1877, he settled at Plymouth. In 1844, he married Frideswide Maria Moore Smyth (1819–1885) of Portlick Castle, Westmeath. They had two daughters, Annie L. Beechey and Frideswide F. Beechey (1851–1919). In 1882, his daughter Frideswide was the first woman to win a prize as a composer of chess problems. Her book Chess Blossoms was published in 1883, followed by Chess Fruits in 1884, which she co-wrote with her husband, Thomas B. Rowland.

In 1888, some three years after the death of his first wife, Beechey married Frances, daughter of the Rev. Annesley Stewart of Trinity College, Dublin. Beechey died at 9 Portland Terrace, Southsea, on 8 March 1895.

Provenance private marine southern collection & Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD.

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Condition report.

Offered in fine used condition.

Painting surface is in acceptable overall condition with various craquelure & foxing staining. Some minor paint touch ups to the lower smoke and ship area and small repair to the back of the canvas. The frame has some imperfections commensurate with being handmade

Hanging thread on the back ready for immediate wall display.

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Dimensions in centimetres of the frame

High (56.3 cm)
Wide (71 cm)
Depth (3.5 cm)



Reserve: $5,400.00

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Used