THE FIRST JOURNEY OF THE VICTORY, 1778

Hand coloured aquatint.
Harold Wyllie after W.L.Willie. London, Dunthorpe 1922

This is a late impression from the original 1922 copper plate, depicting the ‘first journey of HMS. Victory in 1778.’  The First Rate ship is shown under sail with gun ports open, at least nine other warships of the fleet may also be seen, along with two other vessels on the horizon and a long boat in the foreground.This image was created as one of a pair (also available from Lord Russborough’s Annex.) on the occasion of funds being raised to preserve and restore the Victory and moved to a permanent dry dock in Portsmouth.

 She was the fifth, and last, ship of the name Victory in the Royal Navy costing  £63,000 to construct,. Laid down in 1759 after much delay she was finally commissioned in 1778, with a displacement of 3500 tons, she had a complement of 820 crew and mounted 100 guns on three decks. Originally the flag ship of Admiral Keppel she had already achieved fame by the time she became the flag ship of Admiral Nelson during the Napoleonic War (1803 - 15).

William Lionel Wyllie R.A.1851 - 1931 An oil and watercolour painter and etcher of  coastal and marine scenes. He studied at the Royal Academy, where he was awarded the Turner Gold Medal in 1869 and elected a member in 1907 and from there rose to become one of the most proficient artists of his day. Many of his subjects were based around London and Portsmouth were he painted the contemporary British fleet as well as a great number of historical subjects.

Plate 19 x 151/2"        (48.2 X 39.4 cm.)           PRICE CODE B   Click Here for Pricing Details
Ref.LRA 2003/DDA.RL /dd.lannl> AVL

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