English Yachts Lined up at Erith for the Departure of William of Orange
Artist/Maker
Material / Technique
Dimensionsh x w: Mått 24,8 x 62,4 cm h x w: Passepartout 60 x 80 cm
Inventory numberNMH 61/1876
Other titlesTitle (sv): Örlogsmän på redden Title (en): English Yachts Lined up at Erith for the Departure of William of Orange
DescriptionDescription: Graphite, 248 x 624 mm. Vertical joint in the centre, but the chain lines show that this was originally a fold. There are brown stains along it. Dark shadows and repairs on the verso mark three more vertical folds, one to the left of centre, two to the right. Lighter areas where the paper was covered by the old passepartout. Watermark: Fragment of fleur-de-lis (Heawood 1794). Chain lines: 31 mm. Inscribed in the upper left corner, in pen and brown ink, 1677 mandagh. No. 6. Numbered 12 at the top centre, in pencil. At the bottom, below each ship, a letter in pen and brown ink, from left to right: a, n, K, p, m, f. Verso, in pen and brown ink: N:o 6 hier vertreckt de koning den duck en al het eedeldom mest / de 2 flaghe jachte, de mari en sarlot sijn hier nue de voorste / sijn majestijt gepasseert sijnd de andre jagde, komt in de laeste schep daer sij kanveren (?) / int Eerschot voor de koning. William of Orange married Mary, daughter of the Duke of York, on 4 November 1677. The king and the duke accompanied the couple to Erith on the Thames, when the newly-weds departed for Holland on 19 November, a Monday, boarding the yachts Mary and Charlotte. Father and son Van de Welde arrived at Erith several days before and began to record the fleet assembling there. At least 56 drawings covering the event are traditionally attributed to Van de Velde the Elder. They cover the whole of the couple’s journey as far as their arrival in Holland. The greater part are divided between the Maritime Museum in Greenwich and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, with a few drawings in other collections. In particular, the embarkation at Erith, showing the yacht Mary in the centre, is recorded in a drawing in the British Museum. A painting signed by Willem the Younger in the National Maritime Museum in London also depicts the event; it was probably painted in 1678. Next in order would be a drawing in the Louvre, still with the yachts Mary and Charlotte in the centre. The present drawing shows the Mary to the far right alongside the Charlotte, under sail leaving Erith, both seen from the stern. The situation is similar in the next drawing (entry no. 434). The situation depicted here is described by the artist on the back of the sheet: “this is where the King leaves the Duke and all the nobility, the two flag yachts (Mary and Charlotte) are up ahead”. The rest of the text is difficult to interpret, but it seems that the King is passed by the other yachts, then the “last ship” is mentioned and a salute (Eerschot) for the King. (The texts have been transcribed by P. Haverkorn (op. cit.), and corrected and completed, but not fully understood, by Dr Martha Muusses for the exhibition in 1953.) The letters marking the ships are a for Anna n for Navy, K for Katrijn (Cathrine), p for Portsmouth, m for Mari (Mary), and s for Sarlot (Charlotte). In the second drawing, the names of the ships are written out in full. According to a letter from the commander of the Mary, written in January 1678, the Elder Van de Velde was on board this ship and recorded the events from there. Robinson therefore concludes that the two drawings in Stockholm were made by Van de Velde the Younger, who was left behind. This seems reasonable, except for the remote possibility that the father boarded the yacht later, since the travellers went ashore and visited Canterbury, and then boarded again at Margate. In particular, the sketches made on the days preceding the embarkation, now in Rotterdam, are in the same manner as the two drawings in Stockholm. However, a large number of the drawings are worked out in greater detail, including the one in the Louvre of the embarkation at Erith. According to Robinson, these drawings were possibly made to show to a prospective client, so it is not a simple question of different hands. [Magnusson, Dutch Drawings no. 433]
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