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Description: | The painting interprets an event from the life of Admiral Sir Edward Pellew (1757-1833), 1st Viscount Exmouth. He lived in Devon and when Thomas Luny moved to Teignmouth in 1807, he commissioned him to create a series of paintings depicting incidents in Pellew's career.
The 'Dutton' was built on the Thames in 1781 and chartered by the East India Company. It was bound for the West Indies with troops aboard when it was wrecked in Plymouth Sound during a gale on 26 January 1796. At the time Pellew was stationed at Falmouth, commanding a squadron of frigates, and thanks to his efforts all but four people were saved. Luny's first-hand knowledge of the sea and ships enabled him to create this shipwreck, a favourite subject of the Romantic period.
The ship is depicted with its masts gone, close to the shore and secured by a line, held by many people on the shore to the left. The carved figurehead at the bow of the ship appears ghostly, while the waves crash over the deck. Ten figures are still on deck awaiting rescue along the line that has been established, while several others are already moving down the ropes towards safety on the shore. There are figures still in the water holding onto bits of wreckage as they try to reach land and others are depicted lying exhausted on the rocks. More debris from the ship floats in the water to the right. The outline of a fort rises on the left and the coastline of Devon is silhouetted in the distance, through the driving rain. The painting creates an atmosphere of high drama, with dark clouds, the wind, heavy waves and people gesticulating from the shore. The artist has signed the work 'T Luny 1821' on the rocks to the left.
Signed in lower left: Luny 1821
caption: The Wreck of the East Indiaman 'Dutton' at Plymouth Sound, 26 January 1796 | Publisher: | "http://collections.rmg.co.uk/" | Rights holder: | "Royal Museums Greenwich" | Subjects: | Dutton 1781 Luny Thomas paintings Collections Blog | Source: | Royal Museums Greenwich | Identifier: | http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections... | Go to resource |
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