Oil painting, 'Sea Piece with Fishing Boats', style of Jan van de Cappelle

A calm sea with moored kaags or Dutch fishing boats and figures fixing nets in foreground and a ship in full sail in left distance

Bequeathed by Rev. Chauncy Hare Townshend, 1868

Historical significance: Jan van de Cappelle was, with Simon de Vlieger, Hendrick Jacobsz Dubbels and Willem van de Velde the Younger, among the leading Dutch marine painters in the seventeenth century. All four artists painted marine pictures known as 'Calms',a title which refers to the placid state of the water, as represented in this picture. These artists influenced the style of each other to such a degree that motifs in their paintings become virtually interchangeable. 1348-1869 is in the style of the ‘fisherman-series’ paintings which depict fishermen going about their daily chores amidst groups of boats. Both copies and imitations of pictures by Van de Cappelle and his circle were produced throughout the eighteenth and well into the nineteenth century. Imitations frequently combine motifs from, or approximate to the manner of, Van de Cappelle, Dubbels, Van de Velde and Aelbert Cuyp.

Marine paintings such as this are primarily concerned with ships. In 17th century Dutch painting however, the lines between marine painting and seascapes were often blurred. As Holland became a first-rate marine power, victorious sea battles brought about the country’s freedom while voyages of the commercial fleet increased its wealth. The importance of the sea and ships to the Dutch encouraged a new specialization in painters of marine subjects.

A tranquil sea with moored kaags or fishing boats and figures fixing nets in foreground and a ship in full sail in the distance. A Marine painting in the style of the Seventeenth-Century Dutch (Amsterdam) School of painters sometimes known as a 'Calm' due to the stillness of the water.

1348-1869