Victorian Naval Oil Painting Burning of HMS Bombay 1864 After Richard Brydges Beechey
Victorian Naval Oil Painting Burning of HMS Bombay 1864 After Richard Brydges Beechey
Historic 19th Century British Maritime Disaster Oil Painting Depicting the Royal Navy Ship HMS Bombay Burning off Montevideo in the River Plate
Highlights
• Late 19th-century British oil on canvas
• Depicts the burning of HMS Bombay off Montevideo in 1864
• British School, after Richard Brydges Beechey (1808–1895)
• Derived from Beechey’s Royal Academy composition of 1866
• Dramatic Royal Navy maritime disaster subject
• Sailors, rescue boats and survivors depicted in the water
• Historic inscription relating to HMS Bombay verso
• National Maritime Museum comparative material
• Later Larson-Juhl moulded gilt wood frame
• Framed 56.3 cm high x 71 cm wide x 3.5 cm deep
• Private marine collection provenance
• Certificate of Sale & Dealer Attribution included
Introduction
A dramatic and historically significant late 19th-century British naval marine oil painting depicting the catastrophic burning and abandonment of HMS Bombay off Montevideo on 14 December 1864, after the celebrated composition by British naval officer and marine painter Richard Brydges Beechey (1808–1895).
HMS Bombay dominates the centre-right of the composition, her decks and rigging engulfed in flames while immense clouds of smoke billow upwards and almost completely envelop her surviving masts.
In the foreground, the human consequences of the catastrophe are vividly portrayed. A heavily laden ship’s boat filled with escaping sailors struggles across the dark turbulent water, while additional boats surround the burning vessel. Individual survivors can be discerned in the sea itself, while broken spars and wreckage floating upon the water reinforce the sense of chaos.
The palette is particularly atmospheric. Dark blue-green and near-black waters contrast dramatically with pale cream, grey, ochre and golden smoke, punctuated by brilliant passages of orange and red flame.
Rather than presenting the vessel merely as a conventional ship portrait, the artist concentrates upon the unfolding human drama, producing an evocative Victorian maritime narrative painting of considerable historical interest.
Catalogue Details
Artist / Attribution: British School, After Richard Brydges Beechey (1808–1895)
Subject: The Burning and Abandonment of HMS Bombay
Historical Event: 14 December 1864
Location Depicted: River Plate, off Montevideo, Uruguay
Date: Circa 1870 / Late 19th century
Medium: Oil on canvas
Genre: British Marine / Naval Historical Painting
Signature: Indistinct possible initials or mark lower right
Inscription: Old manuscript inscription relating to the Burning of H.M.S. Bombay to the stretcher verso
Framed Dimensions: 56.3 cm high x 71 cm wide x 3.5 cm deep
Frame: Later Larson-Juhl moulded gilt wood frame
Catalogue Note
The painting presents the destruction of HMS Bombay at its most visually dramatic moment.
The warship occupies the middle distance slightly to the right of centre, surrounded by an immense mass of pale grey, cream, ochre and brown smoke punctuated by glowing passages of orange and red flame. The scale of the smoke dramatically overwhelms the surviving rigging, emphasising the intensity and rapid spread of the fire.
The vessel itself remains carefully described. Its long hull, gun ports, decks, spars, masts and remaining rigging are articulated against the lighter smoke, while damaged sails and rigging hang from the upper structure.
Particularly compelling is the treatment of the escaping crew. In the foreground, a heavily laden boat contains numerous sailors, some seated while others turn back towards the burning ship. Further boats are visible closer to HMS Bombay, while individual human figures can be identified swimming in the sea immediately before the vessel.
Broken spars and wreckage float upon the water to the lower right, further reinforcing the catastrophic nature of the event.
The sea is painted in deep blue-green and near-black tones, broken by sharply described crests of pale foam. This dark foreground contrasts strongly with the enormous illuminated mass of smoke above the ship.
These carefully observed narrative details transform the composition from a conventional ship portrait into a dramatic record of maritime catastrophe, evacuation and human survival.
HMS Bombay
HMS Bombay was an 84-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built of teak at Bombay Dockyard and launched on 17 February 1828.
She was subsequently converted to auxiliary screw propulsion at Chatham Dockyard in 1861, representing the transitional period in Royal Navy history between the great wooden sailing battle fleets and the increasingly steam-powered warships of the Victorian period.
By 1864 HMS Bombay was serving on the South American Station under Captain Colin Andrew Campbell.
On 14 December 1864, while near the Islas de Flores on the Montevideo side of the River Plate estuary, fire broke out aboard the vessel during a period in which the crew had been undertaking gunnery exercises and target practice.
The blaze spread rapidly through the wooden warship. Despite attempts to control the fire, the vessel was ultimately overwhelmed. The catastrophe resulted in the deaths of 93 of the ship’s complement of 619.
The present painting captures the desperate evacuation phase of the disaster, with boats crowded with escaping sailors pulling away while HMS Bombay remains afloat but almost completely enveloped by smoke and flame.
A remarkable physical relic associated with the rescue survives within the collection of Royal Museums Greenwich. The museum preserves a model of HMS Bombay’s steam launch bearing an historic inscription recording that the boat was instrumental in saving 130 officers and men during the disaster.
Richard Brydges Beechey
Richard Brydges Beechey (1808–1895) was a Royal Navy officer and accomplished marine painter whose career combined first-hand maritime experience with professional artistic practice.
He was a son of the celebrated British portrait painter Sir William Beechey RA. Richard entered the Royal Navy at a young age and developed extensive first-hand knowledge of ships, rigging, navigation and conditions at sea.
This naval experience gave particular authority to his marine paintings and enabled him to portray vessels and maritime activity with considerable understanding.
Following his active naval career, Beechey became closely associated with marine painting in Ireland. He regularly exhibited maritime subjects at the Royal Hibernian Academy and was elected an honorary member in 1868.
Beechey’s depiction of the destruction of HMS Bombay was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1866, no. 34, shortly after the catastrophe.
The present whereabouts of Beechey’s original oil painting are unclear, although important historic material associated with the composition survives within the collection of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.
The Beechey Composition and George Cochrane Kerr
An important comparative version of the subject survives within the collection of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.
The museum holds an oil painting by George Cochrane Kerr depicting HMS Bombay on fire off Montevideo. The work is inscribed:
“G. E. Kerr / After Beechey”
The museum identifies Kerr’s painting as a version after Richard Brydges Beechey’s composition and records another Kerr version within the collection of the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, Bournemouth.
Royal Museums Greenwich additionally preserves historic photographic imagery associated with Beechey’s composition.
The present painting clearly belongs to the established compositional tradition derived from Beechey’s depiction of the catastrophe. However, in the absence of documentary evidence establishing the identity of its painter, no attribution to George Cochrane Kerr is presently made.
The work is therefore conservatively catalogued as:
British School, 19th Century
After Richard Brydges Beechey (1808–1895)
Signed & Inscribed
An indistinct possible mark or initials can be observed towards the lower-right area of the painted surface.
These cannot presently be read with sufficient confidence to identify the artist and are therefore not catalogued as a confirmed signature.
The reverse stretcher carries an old manuscript inscription relating to the Burning of H.M.S. Bombay, providing historic identification of the subject.
Frame
Presented within a later Larson-Juhl moulded gilt wood frame.
The warm gilded finish provides an effective contrast with the dark marine palette and luminous smoke-filled composition.
Provenance
Private marine collection, Southern England.
Subsequently curated and presented by Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®.
Dimensions
Framed:
56.3 cm high x 71 cm wide x 3.5 cm deep
Approximately 22.17 inches high x 27.95 inches wide x 1.38 inches deep
Condition Report
Historic condition consistent with age.
The painting surface is in acceptable overall antique condition with various areas of age-related craquelure and foxing/staining. There are minor historic paint touch-ups to portions of the lower smoke and ship area and a small historic repair to the reverse of the canvas.
The later Larson-Juhl moulded gilt wood frame displays some imperfections and wear commensurate with its handmade construction and use.
Hanging thread is fitted to the reverse ready for immediate wall display.
Please examine all photographs carefully as they form an integral part of the condition report.
Shipping
Worldwide shipping is available.
The painting will be professionally packed with appropriate consideration given to the historic oil-on-canvas support and decorative gilt frame. Insured delivery can be arranged according to destination.
Certificate of Sale & Dealer Attribution
The artwork will be supplied with a Certificate of Sale & Dealer Attribution issued by Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®, recording the artwork’s catalogue details, attribution, provenance as stated, and details of the sale. This document accompanies the work as part of its ongoing ownership and provenance record.
Attribution and Research
The historical observations, provenance research, attribution analysis and contextual commentary presented within this catalogue entry represent the professional opinion of Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®. They are offered in good faith as informed scholarly assessments based upon the available evidence, comparative research, published reference material and our experience within the international fine art market.
These observations should be understood as professional opinions rather than definitive statements of fact or guarantees of authorship, attribution, date, origin, provenance or historical interpretation. As with all historic works of art, future documentary discoveries, technical examination, conservation analysis or advances in academic research may refine, expand or revise current interpretations.
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