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Description: | Oil on canvas. This work shows an unidentified ship in dock about to be launched, as indicated by four large flags flying from her deck. Dominating the right hand side of the painting is an English-built Indiaman ‘Les Trois Amis’. However, the name is curious because no ship called ‘Les Trois Amis’ is listed in East India Company records.
A similar Cleveley painting of 1757 shows the launch of the ‘Cambridge’ to the left and a view of the ‘Royal George’ to the right; while Cleveley’s painting of ‘St Albans floated out at Deptford’ of 1747 shows a view similar to the left hand part of this composition (both National Maritime Museum). In fact, Cleveley repeated this composition several times, using it to represent the launch of different ships at Deptford.
Conservation work on this painting has revealed changes made to the main ship. For example, the flags on ‘Les Trois Amis’ were originally British ensigns but were subsequently painted over in white. Also, the name ‘Les Trois Amis’ was added later. It is thought that these changes were made early in the work’s lifetime, possibly by the artist. | Subjects: | genre topography les 'trois amis' seascape/coastal scene ensign (ship) rowing boat ship crowd man dock | Temporal: | 1763 | Source: | Government Art Collection | Creator: | John Cleveley the Elder | Identifier: | http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/work.aspx?... | Go to resource |
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