Francis Swaine

Oil Paintings

Francis Swaine: 18th Century Painting of a Naval Engagement during the Seven Years War

£5,700

Depicting an engagement on 3rd November 1758 in which the third rate Buckingham engaged with the slightly larger French third rate Florissant and two French frigates, Aigrette and Atalante. The Buckingham, Captained by Richard Tyrrell is shown atop a lively, wind-tossed sea in the centre foreground slightly stern-on. Although the Buckingham was badly damaged, and her commander Captain Tyrrell seriously wounded several times and lost three fingers on his right hand, the French were defeated and forced to flee. Oil on Canvas, attributed to Francis Swaine, presented in a period giltwood frame.

The present scene was reproduced in a contemporary engraving by Peter Paul Benazech, the text of which states that it is after the original by Francis Swaine. There are no other oil on canvas paintings of this scene known to exist in either private or public collections. 

 

Height 53 cm (20 inches) framed
Width 77 cm (30.25 inches) framed
English. mid 18th century

Francis Swaine
(1725 – 1782)

Francis Swaine was baptized on 22nd June 1719 at St Botolph’s, Aldgate, London, although his exact date of birth is unknown. However, by 1735 he was working as a messenger for the Navy Board as in that year his name appears in a list of clerks and officers employed by the Treasurer and Commissioners of His Majesty’s Navy. It is not clear exactly how he came to be a marine painter, but time spent in the naval offices must have been an influence. Perhaps it was through these connections that he met Peter Monamy, whose eldest daughter, Mary, Swaine married in 1749. Like his father-in-law, Swaine’s style was heavily influenced by Willem van de Velde II (1633-1707), and the work of his own contemporaries Charles Brooking (1723-1759) and, unsurprisingly, by Monamy (1681-1749) for whom he has often been mistaken.

The accuracy and detail of the present painting, including the change in the wind and weather portended by the clouds over the scene, clearly demonstrate Swaine’s intimate knowledge of his subject.

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SKU: C4369
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