Lord Augustus John Hervey, later 3rd Earl of Bristol (1724-1779) in the 'Hampton Court' burning the 'Nimph' on the Coast of Majorca, 21st June 1758
Dominic Serres the elder, RA (Auch 1722 – London 1793)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1769 (signed and dated)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
510 x 730 mm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Ickworth, Suffolk
NT 851777
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Lord Augustus John Hervey, later 3rd Earl of Bristol (1724-1779) in the 'Hampton Court' burning the 'Nimph' on the Coast of Majorca by Dominic Serres the elder, RA (Auch 1722 – London 1793), signed on rock at left: D.Serres. / 1769. Inscribed: Capn Hervey in the Hamptoncourt burning the Nimph F.rigate of 36.Gs on the coast of Majorca June ye 21st 1758. Maritime painting.A bay, with, just right of centre, a British man-of-war firing on - and setting fire to - a French frigate on the right. The crew of the latter flee ashore to the far right, whilst longboats make for the shore from the former. Rock formations on either side in foreground with green countryside and mountains in the background. Blue cloudy sky. The first of a group of paintings recording episodes in the naval career of Augustus Hervey, later 3rd Earl of Bristol (1724-71). Augustus appears to have given the pictures to his last mistress, Mrs Nesbitt, and they were bought for Ickworth by the 1st Marquess of Bristol in the 1830s.
Provenance
Joseph Robins sale, Christie's, 21 February 1834, lot 85, bought in. (It is not clear from the sale catalogue who the seller was - possibly in that it was Mrs Nesbitt, or perhaps Lady Murray, daughters of Lord Mulgrave, who sold the two preceding lots, Gainsborough's portraits of the 3rd Earl of Bristol and Lord Mulgrave); thence by descent to the 4th Marquess (1863-1951), on the death of the 3rd (1834-1907); after his death accepted in lieu of tax by HM Treasury, and transferred to the National Trust in 1956.
Credit line
Ickworth, The Bristol Collection (acquired through the National Land Fund and transferred to The National Trust in 1956)
Makers and roles
Dominic Serres the elder, RA (Auch 1722 – London 1793), artist