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A Man-of-War
A Warship
A Man-of-War
Experiens Sillemans (Dutch, about 1611–1653)
1635–42
Medium/Technique
Engraving
Dimensions
30.3 x 42.5 cm (11 15/16 x 16 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Fund in memory of Horatio Greenough Curtis
Accession Number67.17
OUT ON LOAN
CollectionsEurope, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPrints
With about half of her sails set, a heavily armed Dutch ship sets out, a brisk breeze at her back; her flags reveal the direction of the wind. Sillemans, who specialized in such scenes, gives a sense of the ship’s size by including people on the deck, but we do not know which ship this might be. The inscription in the sky is actually an advertisement for the artist, not the name of the vessel: “Carved by Experiens Silleman, living at the head of the Ridderstraat” in Amsterdam.
Marks
PDP Watermark Type: proproetary [not clearly legible]
InscriptionsIn plate L: ExPeriens. Silleman / Sculps. Wonnendie / Vooran. Indi. Riedder Strat ["Experiens Silleman / Sculpsit . Living / At the head of the Ridderstraat"]
In plate LL: ExPeriens / Sillemans / Sculps
Later inscriptions or marks: Recto LR in graphite pencil: C34310 [Colnaghi stock number]
Verso LR in graphite pencil: 16 [encircled]
In plate LL: ExPeriens / Sillemans / Sculps
Later inscriptions or marks: Recto LR in graphite pencil: C34310 [Colnaghi stock number]
Verso LR in graphite pencil: 16 [encircled]
Provenance1967, sold by P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., Ltd., London, for £120, to the MFA . (Accession Date: January 11, 1967)