~ c1920’s Etching Of HMS Victory In Portsmouth Dockyard by Rowland Langmaid (1897-1956) – Signed ~
This Christmas scene depicts Nelson’s Victory is sited in the dry dock, where she still rests. To the right are Storehouse’s 10 and 11, now home of the Royal Naval Museum.
The etching is signed in pencil to the lower right corner.
On the back is a label from the frame maker. The label reads:
‘ALBERT GARDNER & CO.,
Picture Framers & Fine Art Dealers
3 Pembroke Road, Portsmouth
(Telephone 5809)
and 35 East Street, Havant’
The short phone number indicates that this is its original glazed frame.
Also on the back of the frame written in pencil:
‘Flag hoist – “England expects…..
Yardarms & masthead decorated with evergreen – a traditional Christmas decoration.
Note foretop & mainmast of QE class battleship lying at South railway jetty (middle right of picture).
c1920’s.’
~ Rowland Langmaid ~
Rowland Langmaid (R.I., R.B.A., A.R.E., R.CAM.A.) (1897-1956) – A marine painter and etcher who studied under William Lionel Wylie. He served in the Royal Navy reaching the rank of Lt Commander. Born on 1 December 1897. He was the eldest son of Captain J Langmaid, who was an engineer in the Royal Navy. Langmaid joined the Royal Navy in 1910 and went to sea at the beginning of the First World War serving at the Dardenelles in HMS “Agamemnon” where he made official sketches for landings.During the World War I era Lieutenant Rowland Langmaid, R.N., made a series of etchings to accompany the poem,The Rules of the Navy which was published .After the war Rowland Langmaid studied at the Royal Academy School and the Royal College of Art. He held exhibitions at the Royal Academy and in London, New York, and Paris. Langmaid was a highly accomplished engraver as well as a painter in oil and watercolour with a style similar to the famous marine artist W L Wyllie with whom he collaborated in Sea Fights of the Great War, 1914-18. Langmaid returned to the Active List in 1939 in the rank of Lieutenant Commander and served as official Admiralty artist to the Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean Fleet from 1941 to 1943. He died in Calle de la Bolsa, Malaga, Spain 11th February 1956.
~ Dimensions ~
The frame has a height of 15.7 inches (40 cm), a width of 12.1 inches (31cm) and a depth of 0.5 inches (1.3 cm).
The etching has a height of 8.9 inches (22.5 cm) and a width of 6.5 inches (16.5cm).
The total weight is 1.04 kg.
~ Condition ~
The etching is in excellent order, no signs of foxing or oxidization. The frame has a degree of wear to the black finish. The glass is fine.
