HMS Canopus Entering Portsmouth Harbour by Richard Henry Nibbs

HMS Canopus Entering Portsmouth Harbour by Richard Henry Nibbs As one of at least two versions of the same composition painted by Richard Henry Nibbs (1816-1893), the present example being the larger of the two, so likely the prime work. The painting shows HMS Canopus, an 80 gun third rate warship originally built in France in 1794 and operating as the Franklin. She was the vice-admiral’s flagship in the French navy until captured by Nelson at the Battle of the Nile, and renamed Canopus. Here she is entering Portsmouth harbour being saluted by a first-rate, identified as HMS Victory, acting as guard-ship in the harbour. The occasion shown is the end of a voyage in 1846 when the Canopus brought many of the men of the 43rd Regiment from Plymouth to Portsmouth. In 1846, the Victory, Canopus and a Spanish prize ship the San Josef shared the distinction of being the oldest- remaining battleships still in commission worldwide, with the Canopus having served 6 months for the French and an estimated 89 years for the British. The smaller version of this composition was sold at Parke Bernet in 1944 as part of the property of James A. Stillman Esq. The smaller version of the work is both signed and dated 1885 and so it is likely that our example predates that one. Richard Henry Nibbs (1816-1893) was born in Brighton and trained as a cellist, becoming a professional member of the Theatre Royal Orchestra. He then began to study painting and, though entirely self-taught, became an expert in maritime painting in oils and watercolour and exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy, the British Institution and the Royal Society of British Artists. Works by Nibbs are in the National Maritime Museum, the Sir Max Aitken Museum, the Courtauld Institute and Brighton and Hove Museums amongst other public collections. Provenance: Richard W. Lehne Robert Vanderbilt at 2 Essex Villas Featured in Country Life, Collectors’ Questions, 5th of October 1961, p.743