Knighting the Captains on board the Ark Royal
Bernard Finegan Gribble (1872/3 - 1962)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1935 - 1936 (signed and dated)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1016 x 2743 mm (40 x 108 in)
Order this imageCollection
Buckland Abbey, Devon
NT 809840
Caption
Charles, Baron Howard of Effingham (and subsequently 1st Earl of Nottingham, KG (1536-1624)), the Lieutenant-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and Army (to whom Sir Francis Drake was second-in-command) is on board his flagship, the Ark Royal. On the evening of 25th July 1588, following a successful engagement with the Spanish off the Isle of Wight, he knighted his rear-admiral, John Hawkins, Martin Frobisher (commander of the Triumph), and Lord Thomas Howard, later 1st Baron Howard de Walden and Earl of Suffolk, for their gallantry. This is one of a series of paintings depicting the main events of the Spanish Armada of 1588. It was commissioned by the 1st Lord Vestey from both Kenneth Denton Shoesmith (1896–1939) and Bernard Gribble (1873 - 1962), the latter of whom has signed and dated this picture. The set of seven was intended for Lord Vestey’s dining room at Kingswood, Dulwich and later given to Radley College in 1947 by Lady Vestey in memory of the 2nd Lord Vestey who had died in 1940.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Knighting the Captains on board the Ark Royal by Bernard Finegan Gribble (South Kensington 1873 – Parkstone, Dorset 1962), signed lower right: / BERNARD GRIBBLE / 1936. One of a series of paintings depicting the events of the Spanish Armada in 1588. This one shows Charles, Baron Howard of Effingham (and subsequently 1st Earl of Nottingham, KG (1536-1624), the Lieutenant-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and Army, prepare to the seas against Spain (to whom Sir Francis Drake was second-in-command), on board his flagship, the Ark Royal. On the evening of 25th July, following a successful engagement with the Spanish off the Isle of Wight, he knighted his rear-admiral, John Hawkins, Martin Frobisher (commander of the Triumph), and Lord Thomas Howard, later 1st Baron Howard de Walden and Earl of Suffolk, for their gallantry.
Provenance
One of a set, depicting the main events of the Spanish Armada, commissioned by the 1st Lord Vestey from Kenneth Denton Shoesmith (1896–1939) and Bernard Gribble (1873 - 1962) for his dining room at Kingswood, Dulwich; given to Radley College 1947 by Lady Vestey in memory of the 2nd Lord Vestey who had died in 1940; Sothebys, 3rd June 1998, lots 172-183. This one, lot 181 was bought in, and bought after the sale directly from Radley College
Marks and inscriptions
Knighting the Captains on board the Ark Royal
Makers and roles
Bernard Finegan Gribble (1872/3 - 1962), artist
References
Radleian, 1947, 23rd November 1947, p.2 Ferguson 1948, Warden Ferguson, The History of Radley College, 1847–1947, Oxford 1948 , p.336 Ulster Museum 1977, Kenneth Denton Shoesmith 1890–1939: Paintings and Graphics, Ulster Musuem, Belfast 1977