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The first day's attack on the Castle of Aboukir by the Turkish Gun-boats having five British, and five Russian seamen in each, and assisted by the boats of the Swiftsure, octr: 24th

Watercolour
1798 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Willyams, ordained curate in 1784, served as chaplain on board the Swiftsure, one of Nelson’s ships in the British campaign against Napoleon in the Mediterranean, 1798-1801. This watercolour is one of five in the Searight collection reproduced as aquatints in Willyams’s publication, A Voyage up the Mediterranean in his Majesty’s Ship the Swiftsure. (1802). Napoleon had invaded Egypt in July 1798, and established himself in Cairo; however, in October that year his fleet was sunk by Nelson’s forces off Abu Qir. In his watercolours Willyams shows less interest in the naval action than in the people taking part in it, and in scenes of local life. Here the battle has been relegated to the background, while attention is focused on the amusing incident in the foreground of the Turkish captains retiring to a small boat in the shelter of a wreck to smoke their pipes.


Object details

Category
Object type
TitleThe first day's attack on the Castle of Aboukir by the Turkish Gun-boats having five British, and five Russian seamen in each, and assisted by the boats of the Swiftsure, octr: 24th (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour, formerly stuck down on card
Brief description
Watercolour, `The first day's attack on the Castle of Aboukir by the Turkish Gun-boats having five British, and five Russian seamen in each, and assisted by the boats of the Swiftsure, octr: 24th', 1798, by Revd Cooper Willyams
Physical description
Watercolour drawing
Dimensions
  • Height: 21.8cm
  • Width: 36.2cm
Styles
Marks and inscriptions
Inscribed with title and - on the right, is the wreck of a brig, behind which, the Turkish commanders retired during the action, to smoke their pipes.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Art Fund, Shell International and the Friends of the V&A
Object history
According to Rodney Searight: - ``Bt Appleby's, Aug.1973, £115'.
Historical context
Reproduced, with minor variations, as an etching and aquatint, in C. Willyams A Voyage up the Mediterranean in His Majesty's Ship the Swiftsure, 1802, facing p.96. See also SD.1291
Subject depicted
Places depicted
Summary
Willyams, ordained curate in 1784, served as chaplain on board the Swiftsure, one of Nelson’s ships in the British campaign against Napoleon in the Mediterranean, 1798-1801. This watercolour is one of five in the Searight collection reproduced as aquatints in Willyams’s publication, A Voyage up the Mediterranean in his Majesty’s Ship the Swiftsure. (1802). Napoleon had invaded Egypt in July 1798, and established himself in Cairo; however, in October that year his fleet was sunk by Nelson’s forces off Abu Qir. In his watercolours Willyams shows less interest in the naval action than in the people taking part in it, and in scenes of local life. Here the battle has been relegated to the background, while attention is focused on the amusing incident in the foreground of the Turkish captains retiring to a small boat in the shelter of a wreck to smoke their pipes.
Collection
Accession number
SD.1211

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Record createdApril 24, 2008
Record URL
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