Oil painting, 'Careening a ship in Hove', Jacob Jacobs, ca. 1845

Careening of a ship set against a rising light coaxing the ship's forms from the darkness; a windmill is on the right while on the left is a distant view of a town.

Bequeathed by Rev. Chauncey Hare Townshend

Bequeathed by Rev. Chauncy Hare Townshend, 1868
Ref : Parkinson, Ronald, Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860. Victoria & Albert Museum, HMSO, London, 1990. p.xix.
'Chauncy Hare Townshend (1798-1868) was born into a wealthy family, only son of Henry Hare Townsend of Busbridge Hall, Godalming, Surrey. Educated at Eton and Trinity Hall, Cambridge (BA 1821). Succeeded to the family estates 1827, when he added 'h' to the Townsend name. He had taken holy orders, but while he always referred to himself as 'Rev.' on the title pages of his books, he never practised his vocation... . Very much a dilettante in the eighteenth-century sense, he moved in the highest social and literary circles; a great friend of Charles Dickens (he was the dedicatee of Great Expectations) with whom he shared a fascination of mesmerism... Bulwer Lytton described his life's 'Beau-deal of happiness' as 'elegant rest, travel, lots of money - and he is always ill and melancholy'. Of the many watercolours and British and continental oil paintings he bequeathed to the V&A, the majority are landscapes. He is the first identifiable British collector of early photographs apart from the Prince Consort, particularly landscape photography, and also collected gems and geological specimens.'

Historical significance: This painting is a characteristic example of Jacobs' marine paintings, a category in which he specialised. It shows the careening of a sailing vessel, beached at high tide, and hauled to one side ('hove down') to expose its hull for maintenance below the water line. A windmill is visible at the right.

This study was probably executed at dawn, enabling the artist to contrast the atmospheric effects of dawn light with the dark silhouette of the ship's hull, utilising a palette dominated by pinkish and purple-brown hues. A similar composition and lighting scheme occurs in Jacobs's Merchant vessels off the Turkish coast, a view of Istanbul beyond, sold Philips, London, 15 June 1993, where the pinkish and golden tones of the rising sun coax forms from the darkness as it illuminates the small harbour.

Jacob Jacobs (1812-1879) studied under Ferdinand de Braekeleer at the Antwerp Academy in 1832. He later travelled to Italy, Greece, Russia, Scandinavia, France and Germany, and was in England in 1845, where he exhibited at the Royal Academy. He returned to Antwerp by 1847, where he taught at the Academy. He received awards in Brussels in 1836, 1842 and 1845, and was appointed 'chevalier de l'ordre de Leopold' for his painting Shipwreck of the 'Floridan' in 1849. His many pupils included Florent Crabeels (1835-1896), Adriaan Joseph Heymans (1839-1921), Isidore Meyers (1836-1917) and Jacques Rosseels (1828-1912).

The artistic relationship between the Northern and Southern Netherlands, now modern-day Holland and Belgium was strengthened by the proclamation of the Kingdom of Netherlands in 1815. The Prix de Rome was awarded equally to artists from Antwerp and Amsterdam, even after the independence of Belgium in 1830, and the great tradition of the Golden Age remained vivid. Much Belgian art of the first half of the 19th century articulates a new national pride, while nevertheless drawing on French academic taste. In search of a greater realism, painters sought new surroundings, especially in Paris and Italy, but also as far afield as Morocco.

Previous title: Hove Down to Careen

Jacob (Jacobus Albertus Michael) Jacobs (1812-1879) studied under the painter Ferdinand de Braekeleer in the Antwerp Academy in 1832. He later travelled to Italy, Greece, Russia, Scandinavia, France and Germany and by 1847 he was back in Antwerp where he taught at the Academy in 1843 or 1849. He was awarded in Brussels in 1836, 1842 and 1845, and was appointed 'chevalier de l'ordre de Leopold' for his painting Shipwreck of the 'Floridan' in 1849. He had many pupils among whom Florent Crabeels (1835-1896), Adriaan Joseph Heymans (1839-1921), Isidore Meyers (1836-1917) and Jacques Rosseels (1828-1912).

This painting is a good example of Jacobs' marine paintings, a category in which he soon specialised. Particularly interesting here is the pictorial rendering of light in an atmospheric darkness thanks to the peculiar position of the careened ship and the close observation after nature, a common trend to Belgian painters of the mid 19th century.

1631-1869