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Brierly, Oswald Walters (Chester 1817 – London 1894). The Naval Review at Spithead. Her Majesty The Queen Reviewing the Fleet in Action. From the Original Drawing by O. W. Brierly, Esquire. Toned chalk lithograph with detail coloring by Thomas Goldsworthy Dutton (1819/20 – Clapham 1891) by Day & Son for Ackermann & Co., London. Inscribed: Paris deposé / N^o. 2 / T. G. Dutton, Lith. / Day & Son Lith^rs. to the Queen / London, Published Nov^r 1^st 1853, by Ackermann, & C^o. 96 Strand, By Appointment to H. M. the Queen, H. R. H. Prince Albert, H. R. H. the Duchess of Kent, &c, &c, otherwise as above and, for the names of the ships, below resp. 37.8 x 81 cm.

The  great  naval  review  of  August 11 , 1853

in  preparation  of  the  Crimean  War ,

here  during  the  battle  exercise :

Lined up in three parallel columns and throughout designated by name in the lower margin, in the left half of the picture there are with Highflyer (26 guns), Imperieuse (60), Edinburgh (58), Blenheim (60), the Duke of Wellington launched only the previous year (131), and Agamemnon (90) the propeller ships of the weather division. On the right, however, with Vulture and Baracouta (6 guns each) two paddle steamers of the lee division.

Big at the center and leading the maneuver enemy the two-decker Prince Regent (91 guns), followed by the three-decker Queen (116), the two-decker London (92) as well as, half covered, the Amphion (34). Visible in the middle distance between Prince Regent & Queen the Royal Yacht with H. M. The Queen Victoria & H. R. H. Prince Albert on board.

As covered or outside of the representation furthermore listed per subtext “Terrible 21. Odin 16. Leopard 12 formed continuation of weather division of screw-fleet in this direction. / La Hogue 60. Ajax 58. Arrogant 36. Tribune 30. Desperate 8. Sidon 22. Encounter 14. and Vesuvius 6. formed continuation of the lee division of screw-fleet in this direction”. – In the center within the title below of a crown formed by sterns and sails anchor signet with Nelson’s signal before the Battle of Trafalgar “England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty” as motto running around.

All, however, still full-rigged, although only the ships-of-the-line of the center line, in later years partly likewise furnished with propellers, have sails set. In such a manner also evidently marking the beginning

Not ten years later in the American Civil War the small iron monitors with but few guns mounted, however, in revolving armored turrets would become the decisive factor of the naval action. A development which by the construction of ever larger, ever more heavily armored battleships then at least partially took up quasi contrary tendencies again, culminating in the Battle of Jutland only 50 years later.

Worth emphasizing besides that with present 1853 naval review not the usual plain presentation of the ships, but – especially with respect to the presence of the Czar’s daughters Maria and Olga Nikolajewna –

was in the center, as also noted by the contemporary reporting of the Times. Which otherwise states with as much regret as understanding considering the political situation that at least four first-rate ships-of-the-line – among which also the brand-new H.M.S. St. Jean d’Arce – had not been brought to Portsmouth, supposedly for not to give the parade a too menacing character. That the parade nevertheless was intended as menace and escalation on the path to the final declaration of war in March next year becomes evident from the close chronological correlation

just  six  weeks  after  the  occupation  of  Moldavia  and  Wallachia

by Russian troops. – The pendant Her Majesty The Queen Leading the Fleet to Sea was published the month before.

Brierly , after studying both arts and shipbuilding, went to

“ Australia in 1842 with Benjamin Boyd for whom he organized whaling and sheep-breeding. 1848 he undertook an expedition to the Great Barrier Reef and parts of New Guinea on ‘H.M.S. Rattlesnake’ which formed the basis for a mural painting later created in Sydney. On ‘H.M.S. Meander’ he sailed the Pacific and returned to England in 1851. During the Crimean War B. was observer with the Baltic fleet in the Black Sea and recorded the naval maneuvers in sketches for the ‘Ill. London News’. 1863-69 company of the Duke of Edinburgh on various cruises (i. a. 1868 Australia). 1874 assigned as marine painter by Queen Victoria to the Royal Yacht ‘Squadron’. 1881 curator of the Painted Hall at the Royal Naval College at Greenwich. Member of the Royal Watercolour Society (annual exhibitions). 1885 knighted. – B.’s detailed marine watercolors show action-rich adventures and record events from the many places travelled by him ”

(David E. L. Thomas, Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon XIV [1996] 212).

Dutton for his part

“ (worked) i. a. in the early 1840s as lithographer of especially maritime motifs for Day & Haghe (later Day & Son); supplied in 1877 drawings with representations of ships as copy for wood engravings for the Illustrated London News … Marines and portraits of ships (esp. of sailing ships) chiefly in watercolor, more rarely in oil which were reproduced frequently as (color) lithographs …

D.’s  works  show  a  drawing  of  very  rich  detail  and  high  quality .

… According to Archibald D. is considered as one of the best and most productive lithographers in the 19^th century in Great Britain. Known, too, coastal views of Devon and Cornwall ”

(Mora Dianne O’Neill, Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon XXXI [2002] 295).

Generally evenly feebly browned, yet with respect to the chamois-colored tone plate perceptible in subtext and white margin only. In the former especially on the right also quite weak, mostly only little stains or spots. White margin of above and below c. 10, left 7, right 3 mm around the double enclosing line. – On the back running round remains of adhesive tape from former framing. In such a manner, however,

of  round  about  remarkably  fine  preservation

as especially worth mentioning for these large and thereby additionally vulnerable sheets intended foremost for decoration and therefore wear.
Offer no. 28,930 / EUR  1500. / export price EUR  1425. (c. US$ 1913.) + shipping