>SUPERB Francis Sartorius 1799 Oil Painting Ship Battle Start Price USD 24,950.00 Current Price USD 24,950.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Monday, July 21, 2008 End Time Monday, July 28, 2008 Location Rochester, NY See more about '>SUPERB Francis Sartorius 1799 Oil Painting Ship Battle' Description Very Nice Original Oil Painting on Canvas     by Well-listed English artist    Francis Sartorius (the younger, 1782-1808)     Museum Quality Work!     Famous Naval Battle between   H.M. Frigate Clyde  &  French Frigates Sagees & Vestale     1799           For offer and exceptional original oil on canvas painting, framed! Fresh from an prominent estate in Buffalo, NY (I will supply name upon sale). Vintage, Old, Antique, Original - NOT a Reproduction - Guaranteed !! Fresh to the market. This artist's works are highly sought after, and bring very good prices, as do this artist's father. A recent auction record from Christie's shows a very  similar work that sold in Oct. 2007 for over $25,000. Born of a family of sporting artists (the best known being his father John Nost Sartorius), Francis became interested in marine painting early on in his career. He was just beginning to establish himself in this field, exhibiting at the R.A. from 1799-1808, but died shortly afterwards at the young age of twenty-seven. Important historical event depicted in this work. Plate attached to the frame gives the following information: H.M. Frigate Clyde (38 guns) capturing the French Frigate Vestale (35 guns), whilst the French Frigate Sagees (20 guns), engages at long range - 20th August, 1799. With frame, the work measures 16 1/8 (41 cm) x 13 1/4 (34 cm) inches; actual work measures 12 (30 cm) x 9 (23 cm) inches. Very good condition overall. A couple very small chips to left bottom at distant ship).  Professionally relined at some time in the past. Frame from the last century. I do not see a signature of the artist, but it could be there somewhere. The estate from which it came had many high-end paintings with similar content. This work perfectly matches the style of others by this artist. Please note: The painting looks better than shown below. If you collect 18th / 19th century British art history, seascape, military, Navy of Britian, painting, listed artists, etc. this is a very nice one! Perhaps some genealogy importance as well. Add this to your fine art collection. Winning bidder pays 65.00 s/h and insurance. Combine shipping on multiple bid wins! insurance is extra -International s/h is more.  No reserve Good luck.   Click the button to see my other items->-> On the 20th of August, at 8 h. 30 m. A. M., Cordovan  lighthouse bearing east by south distant or seven leagues, the british 38-gun frigate Clyde, captain Charles Cunningham, having with the wind to the northward just worked off from reconnoitring the port of Rochefort, descried two sail in the south-west. The Clyde immediately gave chase, and at 11 A. M. made them out to be enemy's cruisers standing towards her. At half-past noon the strangers, having then approached within two miles of the Clyde, bore up and made sail, each going away large on a different tack. The Clyde. selecting the one that appeared the more formidable of the two, crowded sail in pursuit. At 1 h. 30 m p. M., having arrived within gun-shot, the Clyde hoisted her colours and fired a gun ; whereupon the french 36-gun frigate Vestale, (the Terpsichore's old opponent,) captain Mayor-Michel-Pierre Gas- pard, hoisted her colours, and answered with a broadside the gun which had been fired by the Clyde. A warm engagement, during which the Vestal: made several skilful manoeuvres, now ensued, and continued, without intermission, for one hour ami 50 minutes; when the french frigate, having bai all three masts badly wounded, her rigging and sails cut to pieces, and her hull, both above ami below her water-line, pierced with shot in several places, hauled down her flag to the Clyde ; whose principal damages were confined to her rigging and sails. The Vestale's consort, which was the french 20-gun corvette Sagesse, was in sight in-short during the whole of the action. The Clyde, out of her net complement of 281 mea and boys, had a quartermaster and one private- marine killed, and three seamen wounded. TW * Marshall, vol. ii. p. 836. Vestale, although her established complement was 1799. at least 275, had on board when the action commenced, no more than 230 men. Of these the french frigate lost 10 seamen and marines killed, and two officers and 20 seamen and marines wounded : one officer and several of the seamen afterwards died of their wounds. If the Sagesse withdrew owing, not to the defection of her own, but to the command of the Vestale's captain, the latter must have formed a very erroneous judgment of the relative strength of himself and his opponent. The Clyde would not have been overmatched, nor would captain Cunningham have declined fighting, had the two french ships united their strength against him. The comparative force of the two combatants has already appeared in that of the Revolutioimaire and Unite.* The Seahorse and Sensible were also similarly matched. Circumstanced therefore as he was, captain Gaspard behaved with commendable gallantry, and, as well as his officers and crew, merited the most honourable acquittal for the loss of the Vestale. Nor could the french captain have a better witness in his favour than captain Cunningham ; who, in his modestly-written official letter, passes a very high encomium on the behaviour of his antagonist. Having secured his prize, captain Cunningham directed his attention towards her late consort; but, availing herself of the vicinity of the Gironde, the Sagesse had already effected her escape. Although a fine frigate of 946 tons, the Vestale, in her two rough encounters, first with the Terpsichore, and now with the Clyde, had received too much injury to be repaired with advantage. The captured frigate, therefore, was not purchased for the use of the British navy. Since the capture of the Reunion by the Crescent, and of the Unite by the Revolutipnnaire,  it had not been customary to knight the captains of 18-pounder frigates for their success over the 12- pounder frigates of the enemy. Hence captain Cunningham was not so rewarded ; but the Clyde's first lieutenant, Alexander Robert Kerr, and who, it will be recollected, lost an eye when second lieutenant of the Boston in her action with the Embus- cade, was made a commander. There is a proverb as old as the hills, which tell us, in meaning if not in words, that an indiscreet friend is often more injurious than an avowed enemy. This is completely exemplified in the notice taken by vice-admiral lord Keith of captain Cunningham's exploit in capturing the Vestale. His lordship wrote thus to the admiralty on the occasion : " I have the honour to enclose for their lordships' information, a letter from captain Cunningham, of H. M. S. Clyde, containing an account of one of the most brilliant transactions which have occurred during the course of the war ; he having with great gallantry pursued two french frigates ; one of which he has captured. and driven the other into port." The lords of the admiralty, acting wisely, refrain from publishing this letter; but a biographical writer has since obtained a copy of it, and has, must excuse us for saying, with less than his usui discrimination, inserted it in his work, along with thefollowing additional information : " His late majesty was at one of the theatres, when an account of tk above event was brought to him. He immediately stood up in his box, and commanded the news to tx communicated to the audience : when ' Rule Britannia' was loudly called for from every part of the house, and performed with reiterated applause."* Before taking our final leave of this action, deem it but just to set right another contemporary' in his account of the force of the Sagesse. " Withthe Vestale was first discovered," says Marshall, vol ii, p. 80. Brenton, " her consort of equal force was with 1799.  " Let us first make it clear, that captain Cunningham was no party to this exaggeration. His words are, " Her consort, the Sagesse, of 30 guns." Tt so happened, that the British afterwards captured this very Sagesse ; and she was then found to mount 20 french 8-pounders on the main deck, and eight 4-pounders on the quarterdeck and forecastle. Even this was a greater force than the ship, from her size, could conveniently carry ; for she measured only 481 tons, or about half as much as the Vestale. Our contemporary will be further obliged to us for correcting him in a mistake respecting the tonnage of the Clyde. He says, vol. i. p. 44, " This class (that of the Arethusa) was soon after succeeded by a larger, such as the Artois, Diamond, Diana, Seahorse, and Apollo ; these were thirty-eight gun frigates of eleven hundred tons." Now, not one of these five frigates (a sixth, the Jason, has been omitted) measured more than 998 tons. The Clyde and Tamar, built of fir in the year 1796, were from the same draught : the first measured 1002, and the second 999 tons. Place a Bid!