Thomas Buttersworth Art

Oil on canvas, signed T Buttersworth lower left. Provenance: David Messum, London, Bonhams NY 2014 Measures 19.75" x 27.75" canvas and 28" x 36" with frame. Featuring a British frigate and other shipping in a storm off the coast of Dover. Thomas Buttersworth...

The action of 13 January 1797 was a minor naval battle fought between a French ship of the line and two British frigates off the coast of Brittany during the French Revolutionary Wars. During the action the frigates outmaneuvered the much larger French vessel and drove it onto shore in heavy seas, resulting in the deaths of between 400 and 1,000 of the 1,300 persons aboard. One of the British frigates was also lost in the engagement with six sailors drowned after running onto a sandbank while failing to escape a lee shore. The French 74-gun ship Droits de l'Homme had been part of the Expédition d'Irlande, an unsuccessful attempt by a French expeditionary force to invade Ireland. During the operation, the French fleet was beset by poor coordination and violent weather, eventually being compelled to return to France without landing a single soldier. Two British frigates, the 44-gun HMS Indefatigable and the 36-gun HMS Amazon had been ordered to patrol the seas off Ushant in an attempt to intercept the returning French force and sighted the Droits de l'Homme on the afternoon of 13 January. The engagement lasted for more than 15 hours, in an increasing gale and the constant presence of the rocky Breton coast. The seas were so rough that the French ship was unable to open the lower gunports during the action and as a result could only fire the upper deck guns, significantly reducing the advantage that a ship of the line would normally have over the smaller frigates. The damage the more maneuverable British vessels inflicted on the French ship was so severe that as the winds increased, the French crew lost control and the Droits de l'Homme was swept onto a sandbar and destroyed. Thomas Buttersworth...

Born on the Isle of Wight, this important British marine artist enlisted aboard the receiving ship H.M.S. Enterprise in 1795, then joined the frigate H.M.S. Caroline the same year. Buttersworth became able bodied seaman at 27 and midshipman in 1800. He was discharged after an injury at the Mediterranean port of Minorca. He had begun painting while aboard H.M.S. Caroline in 1796. While a patient in Minorca he further honed his skills and created several Mediterranean scenes. He also painted views of the battles of Cape Saint Vincent and Trafalgar, probably from memory as he was on site for these historic battles during his sea service. He was appointed official marine painter to the East India Company in 1810, gaining a strong reputation that led to exhibits at the Royal Academy (1813-1827), the British Institute and Suffolk Street Galleries. His prominence as one of England's pivotal marine artists is well established. He is noted for his dramatic portrayals of naval battles and coastal shipping, and as father and teacher of acclaimed American marine painter James E. Buttersworth and Thomas Buttersworth...