Print made by Pierre Charles Canot, ca. 1710–1777, French, active in Britainafter Thomas Milton, active 1739–1756, Britishshipping scene after John Cleveley the elder, ca. 1712–1777, British
Title:
Geometrical Plan of his Majesty's dockyard, at Sheerness
Date:
1755
Materials & Techniques:
Line engraving on medium, moderately textured, cream laid paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 22 1/8 × 28 11/16 inches (56.2 × 72.8 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Watermark
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1978.43.278
Classification:
Prints
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
cartographic materials | dockyard | sailboats | ships | Union Jack | flags | coat of arms | longboats | town | marine art
Associated Places:
Medway | United Kingdom | England | Kent | Sheppey | Sheerness | Thames
Currently On View:
Not on view
Exhibition History:
Spreading Canvas - Eighteenth - Century British Marine Painting (Yale Center for British Art, 2016-09-09 - 2016-12-04)
Publications:
Eleanor Hughes, Spreading Canvas : Eighteenth-Century British Marine Painting, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 2016, pp. 207, 209-12, cat. 72, no. 72, ND 1373.G74 S67 2016 (YCBA)
Gallery Label:
One of a series of views of the six Royal Dockyards, which were by the mid-eighteenth century the world's largest industrial complex and the state's biggest investment. These engravings present the dockyards as orderly, efficient, and rational; each makes reference to the specific functions of the dockyard represented, which depended in part on location. In November 1750, when employed at the Deptford dockyard, John Cleveley wrote to the Navy Board (which oversaw the dockyards) to notify them that he had, “In Pursuance to your Order of the 28 of September,” traveled to Sheerness to make a drawing of the Amazon, “and also a sketch of that Port,” for which service he was paid 6s 8d per day; it is tempting to surmise that the sketch was made for the purpose of the dockyard views. In accordance with its function as a dockyard primarily used for ship repairs, the vignettes bordering the primary image in this print show methods of repair and upkeep, including a view of a ship “heaving down” at Port Mahon, the navy’s main base in the Mediterranean. Gallery label for Spreading Canvas - Eighteenth-Century British Marine Painting (Yale Center for British Art, 2016-09-09 - 2016-12-04)