Adriaen van de Velde Amsterdam 1636 - 1672 and Willem van de Velde the Younger Leiden 1633 - 1707 London

Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt ( 1714-1777), by 1758-61;
George Simon Harcourt, 2nd Earl Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt (1736-1809);
William Harcourt, 3rd and last Earl Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt (1742/3-1830);
Thence via the marriage of his great aunt, Martha (1715-1794) to George Vernon, later Venables-Vernon, 1st Lord Vernon, Baron of Kinderton (1709/10-1780), to their second son, Edward Venables-Vernon (1757-1847), created Vernon Harcourt by Royal licence on inheriting the Harcourt Estates in 1830;
George Granville Vernon-Harcourt, later Harcourt of Nuneham Courtenay (1785-1861);
Rev. William Vernon-Harcourt, later Harcourt (1789-1871);
Edward William Harcourt of Nuneham Courtenay and Stanton Harcourt (1825-1891);
Aubrey Harcourt, of Nuneham Park and Stanton Harcourt (1852-1904): 
Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt (1827-1904);
Lewis Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt and Baron Nuneham of Nuneham-Courtenay (1863-1922);
William Edward Harcourt, 2nd Viscount Harcourt (1908-1979);
Thence by descent.

Greenwich, London, National Maritime Museum, The Art of the Van de Veldes, 1982, no. 25;
Washington, National Gallery of Art, The Treasure Houses of Britain, 1985, no. 74.

Description of Nuneham-Courtenay in the county of Oxford, 1797, p. 35, 'The embarkation of K. Charles the Second, at scheveling, an 1660, with English and Dutch yachts, a capital Vander Veldt' , in the Great Drawing Room;
Description of Nuneham-Courtenay in the county of Oxford, 1806, p. 23, ''The embarkation of King Charles II, at Scheveling, an. 1660, with English and Dutch yachts; a capital Vander Veldt' , in the Great Drawing Room;
J.N. Brewer, The Beauties of England and Wales, London 1813, vol. XII, p. 276;
J.P. Neale, Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, London 1820, vol. III, no. 63;
G. Waagen, Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain, Supplement, London 1857, p. 350;
C. Hofstede de Groot, A catalogue raisonné...., vol. VIII, London 1923, p. 11, no. 20;
M.S. Robinson, The Art of the Willem van de Veldes. A catalogue of the paintings of the Elder and Younger Willem van de Velde, London 1990, vol. II, p. 772, no. 258, reproduced.

"The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This great painting is on a very old stretcher, which is still fairly strong, with a lining that could be from the early twentieth century. The present restoration could also date perhaps from the second quarter of the last century. The varnish is distinctly golden although still comparatively transparent, and the many small retouchings, mainly in the sky, have not discoloured particularly, apart from some quite extensive darker bluer retouching in the upper right corner especially by the edges, and a narrow band of dark retouching along the base edge. There does not appear to be any accidental damage, and the overall craquelure is fine and even, continuing through the little touches of past retouching, which seem to have been largely cosmetic, perhaps to mute cracks. They are clustered to some extent around a vertical in the centre, presumably the trace of a stretcher bar, with another semi vertical cluster at centre left above a group of ships with white flags and white ensigns almost lost in the old varnish, next to the more central ship with a pentiment down the slant of its sail. There are other small old retouchings in the upper left corner, one perhaps more recent in a curl of the clouds at centre left and a slight nick in the clouds nearer the lower left edge. In general there is no indication of wear or incidental damage to explain the many little retouchings, other than perhaps a slightly marked craquelure stemming from possible past brittleness, although there is no trace of flaking in a raking light, or simply from a perceived cosmetic need. Overall the painting seems to have been carefully respected historically and to have largely escaped successive interventions, as well as accidental damage, remarkably given its size. The subtle glazed transitions in the cloudscape appear beautifully intact, as do most of the details in the great fleet below. The fine rigging in the more distant ships, for instance at centre left, is completely unworn. There is a little thinness in the ships at each edge, including around the flag with the signature on the right, and in one or two little stretches of rigging at centre right and a little further right that are slightly rubbed. The foreground water and boats are largely intact with occasional slight wear towards the right. Overall beneath the old varnish the paint surface appears to be exceptionally beautiful and unworn, with enamelled glazing intact. This report was not done under laboratory conditions."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The yacht Mary is in the centre middle distance, and is recognisable by the union jacks, ensign and her figurehead of a unicorn.¹  She is preceded by two boeiers, and a transom-sterned bezan yacht, while behind her sail another boeier and two bezan-rigged yachts, together with a large yacht flying the ensign of the Dutch East India company. Behind them, the anchored men-of-war of the Dutch fleet fire salutes as the yacht passes them. In the centre foreground, seemingly intent on running down a rowing boat, is a state barge of the Admiralty of Amsterdam under oars. On the extreme right is the north-east bank of the harbour basin known as the Ij and in the distance can be seen the waterfront of Amsterdam. The three churches visible are probably, from right to left, the Westerkerk, the Oudekerk, and the Montelbaarstoren. The painting provides a wonderful evocation of the tumult and confusion that must have attended the eager presence of so many small boats in the crowded waters of Amsterdam harbour. Everywhere figures are seen gesturing and frantically waving their arms in order to avert an imminent collision with a neighbouring vessel, while spectators seated in the foreground boats strain to catch a glimpse of the yacht as she comes towards them.

The subject of this teeming panorama is most probably the departure of the Dutch yacht Mary from Amsterdam to London in the middle of July 1660. King Charles II had been restored to the English throne in May 1660, and on the 28th of that same month the City Council of Amsterdam commenced negotiations with the Admiralty to purchase the Mary for presentation to him. The re-fitting was completed by 12 August 1660, and the Mary arrived in the Thames three days later. Samuel Pepys records the King's departure from Whitehall that day '..gone this morning by 5 of the clock to see a Dutch pleasure-boat below bridge, where he dines'.²  No record has been found, however, of any special celebrations on the occasion of the sailing of the Mary for England. Although a large number of vessels are in attendance, the scene falls well short of the flotilla of over a hundred yachts that had, for example, greeted Charles II's sister Mary and her son the Prince of Orange when they arrived in Amsterdam only two months earlier. There would, however, have been a large crowd to see the Mary leave for England after the work of fitting her out for Charles II, which would no doubt have included an 'admiraalzeilen' of the type shown here.

Although a number of drawings of the Mary by Willem van de Velde and his father Willem van de Velde the Elder survive, none corresponds with this composition.³  The signatures of both Adriaen and Willem van de Velde on this painting make it of particular interest and importance, for they provide rare proof of the collaboration of the two brothers on such an important piece. Both may well have been working from drawings made by their father on the spot, but which are no longer extant. The fact that both signatures are to be found on the ensign of the yacht may perhaps be taken to indicate that he or they had sailed in it, as was his normal practice. Adriaen was a highly accomplished landscape and figure painter but he lacked his brother's mastery of the details of naval scenes. One of the notable features of this painting - and one which suggests that Adriaen was responsible for parts of its execution - is the number of minor errors in the delineation of the vessels. Some of the ships are depicted too large or too small in relation to the boats around them (such as the the group of three boeiers in front of the Mary) and there are numerous instances of somewhat faulty perspective. By contrast the keen delineation of detail in the distance suggests that most if not all of these parts of the painting were entrusted to Willem. The rendering of the rigging of these vessels, in particular that of the anchored man-of-war on the right of the composition, is surely the work of his hand. The sky is also likely to have been his work. Many similar vessels, including the bezan yacht and the states barge in the lower right foreground, and the Mary hersel, recur in another work from this period that may also be the work of the two brothers: this was the painting formerly in collection of the Royal Scottish Academy, sold in these Rooms 26 April 2007, lot 51, and now in an American private collection.⁴

That this painting was owned by the first Lord Harcourt is established by a reference in an account of 1761 for its framing, undertaken among 'Work done..for Newnham House since Octr 27th 1758' by John Adair. At this time, and evidently for long afterwards, the painting was thought to be the work of Willem van de Velde the Elder and to depict the departure of Charles II from Scheveningen. Waagen, who saw it there in 1856, agreed with this description and considered it 'A large picture, more remarkable for its subject than its beauty, as the numerous sails repeat the same lines too often'. Hofstede de Groot, writing three-quarters of a century later was more generous: 'A large picture above the door with a great  number of white-sailed and quite small vessels, which are spread over the whole width of the picture. Dutch and English flags. A beautiful light and slightly stirred greyish water...'.

1  The accounts for the figurehead from the fitting-out of the yacht in the early summer of 1660 still survive:'One wrought copper horn for the figure head'.
2  Diary, R.C. Latham ed., 1970, vol. I, p. 222.
3  See Robinson, under Literature, pp. 775-76, nos. 2-5, 8 and 10.
4  Robinson, op. cit., vol. II, p. 777, no. 433, reproduced.