Admiral Sir Charles Knowles' Jamaica Squadron off the banks of Tortuga

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Thomas Craskell
Admiral Sir Charles Knowles' Jamaica Squadron off the banks of Tortuga

About the Item

A Maritime painting- Thomas Craskell (F.L. 1748‒1750) 'Admiral Sir Charles Knowles' Jamaica Squadron engaging a well-matched Spanish adversary off the Tortuga Banks as the latter prepares to make a run for the safety of Havana, 1st October 1748' Thomas Craskell was an engraver and engineer who conducted a survey of Jamaica, as well as an accomplished maritime painter. His work sits alongside more prolific mid-eighteenth-century maritime painters Peter Monamy and Samuel Scott, but he left behind only four known works, two of which are held by the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich. His impressive draughtsmanship, with precise rendering of sails, rigging and ships in action, testifies to his first-hand knowledge of the sea. This painting is one of a pair by Craskell commemorating the Battle of Havana, the second of which ‒ depicting the burning of the Spanish flagship Africa ‒ is part of the Caird Collection held in the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich (no. BHC 0375). The event took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, an escalation of a dispute between England and Spain in 1739 known as the War of Jenkins' Ear. The wider conflict involved all the main European powers and was principally played out at sea around the West Indies. By 1748, as peace was being negotiated in Europe after nine years of fighting, bitter colonial rivalries persisted in the Caribbean. In September of that year, Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Knowles, Commander in Chief of the Jamaica Squadron, seized one last chance to gain a major victory in the region: having learnt that the Spanish Plate (treasure) Fleet was due in Havana, he planned to intercept and capture it. The British squadron, comprising six ships of the line, left Port Royal and cruised off the Tortuga Bank. On 1 October the British sighted some Spanish ships, but to Knowles's alarm and disappointment these were not treasure galleons but ships of war. With the wind in his favour, Knowles decided to attack anyway, capturing the 64-gun Conquistador and badly damaging the 74-gun flagship Africa. The other Spanish ships retreated safely to Havana. Shortly afterwards, Knowles received news (from a captured prize) that a peace treaty was imminent so he was not able to search further for the elusive Plate Fleet. Upon his return to England, Knowles became embroiled in a dispute with his second-in-command. As a result, he was court-martialled and officially reprimanded for his failure to defeat the enemy squadron. The canvas is on an impressive scale, with a strong lateral emphasis. The vessels are arranged along the horizon, with the central Spanish ship, presumably the Conquistador, depicted as a hive of activity, the crew responding to the surprise attack. An expanse of sky covers much of the surface, where the clouds merge with billowing battle smoke. The palette is restrained but dramatic, the gentle sky blue in the upper portion of the picture answered by a greenish-grey sea that darkens almost to black in the foreground. Some unblended passages of bright white pigment between the ships in the middle distance convey the explosive spectacle of naval battle. oil on canvas 38¾ x 72¼ in. (98.4 x 183.5 cm.) - dimensions are painting only.

Creator:
Thomas Craskell (1710, British)
Dimensions:
Height: 38.75 in (98.43 cm)Width: 72.25 in (183.52 cm)
Medium:
Canvas,Oil
Period:
Mid-18th Century
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Petworth, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: E1051stDibs: LU54631591213

Admiral Sir Charles Knowles' Jamaica Squadron off the banks of Tortuga

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