Oil painting, 'The Evening Gun', style of Willem van de Velde the younger, 19th century

Two dutch ships at sunset, in the left foreground a small fishing boat pulled ashore and four figures, at the right, a three-masted battleship with sails set, has fired a gun towards shore and is partially enveloped in white smoke

Bequeathed by John Jones

Bequeathed by John Jones, 1882
John Jones (1800-1882) was first in business as a tailor and army clothier in London 1825, and opened a branch in Dublin 1840. Often visited Ireland, travelled to Europe and particularly France. He retired in 1850, but retained an interest in his firm. Lived quietly at 95 Piccadilly from 1865 to his death in January 1882. After the Marquess of Hertford and his son Sir Richard Wallace, Jones was the principal collector in Britain of French 18th century fine and decorative arts. Jones bequeathed an important collection of French 18th century furniture and porcelain to the V&A, and among the British watercolours and oil paintings he bequeathed to the V&A are subjects which reflect his interest in France.

Ref : Parkinson, Ronald, Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860. Victoria & Albert Museum, HMSO, London, 1990. p.xix-xx

See also South Kensington Museum Art Handbooks. The Jones Collection. With Portrait and Woodcuts. Published for the Committee of Council on Education by Chapman and Hall, Limited, 11, Henrietta Street. 1884.
Chapter I. Mr. John Jones. pp.1-7.
Chapter II. No.95, Piccadilly. pp.8-44. This gives a room-by-room guide to the contents of John Jones' house at No.95, Piccadilly.
Chapter VI. ..... Pictures,... and other things, p.138, "The pictures which are included in the Jones bequest are, with scarcely a single exception, valuable and good; and many of them excellent works of the artists. Mr. Jones was well pleased if he could collect enough pictures to ornament the walls of his rooms, and which would do no discredit to the extraordinary furniture and other things with which his house was filled."

Historical significance: Willem van de Velde II (1633-1707) was the son of Willem van de Velde I. Around 1648 Willem II moved to Weesp to study under Simon de Vlieger, whose sombre and atmospheric seascapes were a foil to the more prosaic realism of his father’s work. In 1652 he was back in Amsterdam, and took up work in his father’s studio. Willem is celebrated for his exquisitely drawn ships, a careful regard for the placing of each vessel to create a satisfying composition and an atmosphere of serene tranquillity. 586-1882 is evidently a less accomplished and later, probably 19th century, work generally painted in van de Velde's style but without his precision or ability to capture luminous light effects. The 'Evening Gun' refers to the navy's evening firing of guns in the evening as signals in honour of persons, events or festivities.

Marine paintings present sea subjects with particular attention to ships and shipping. When marine painting emerged as a distinct genre, in the 17th-century Dutch Republic, the initial focus was on large, publicly commissioned history paintings commemorating naval engagements against the Spanish and important political and commercial events. The genre was largely developed by Hendrick Vroom and from the 1620s onwards a market developed for smaller marine paintings, by such artists as Porcellis, de Vlieger, van de Cappelle, and van de Velde the younger, whose interests lay primarily in the depiction of atmospheric effects and the behaviour of the sea in various conditions. The Anglo-Dutch Wars (1652–74) revived interest in publicly commissioned historical painting, and after both Willem van de Velde and his son were appointed as painters to Charles II, the market in marine painting moved to London. The early marine paintings of Turner emulated those of the earlier Dutch painters such as van de Cappelle and van de Velde the younger, but Turner's more dramatic vision inspired the next generation of marine artists, and he superseded van de Velde as their model. His influence is apparent in the work of many marine artists, such as Edward William Cooke (1811–80), and Clarkson Stanfield (1793–1867), who continued to flourish in England throughout the 19th century.

The work was given to van de Velde the Elder by Hofstede de Groot (1918) and as after van de Velde the Elder by Long (1923)

Two dutch ships at sunset, in the left foreground a small cargo vessel has pulled onto shore while in the right distance a battleship has fired its cannon and is enveloped in white smoke. Willem van de Velde II (1633-1707) was the son of Willem van de Velde I. Around 1648 Willem II moved to Weesp to study under Simon de Vlieger, whose sombre and atmospheric seascapes were a foil to the more prosaic realism of his father’s work. In 1652 he was back in Amsterdam, and took up work in his father’s studio. Willem is celebrated for his exquisitely drawn ships, a careful regard for the placing of each vessel to create a satisfying composition and an atmosphere of serene tranquillity. 586-1882 is evidently a less accomplished and later, probably 19th century, work generally painted in van de Velde's style but without his precision or ability to capture luminous light effects. The 'Evening Gun' refers to the navy's evening firing of guns in the evening as signals in honour of persons, events or festivities.

586-1882