Catalog Archive
Auction 195, Lot 390

"To Major Hare of the 12th Light Dragoon. This View of the Bay & Town of St. Pierre Is Inscribed by His Sincere & Obliged Friend, Cooper Willyams", Willyams, Rev. Cooper

Subject: St. Pierre, Martinique

Period: 1796 (dated)

Publication: An Account of the Campaign in the West Indies

Color: Hand Color

Size:
16.9 x 10.2 inches
42.9 x 25.9 cm
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A rare and superb view of St. Pierre on the Island of Martinique. This lovely aquatint features a sweeping view of the bay and countryside with sailing ships filling the bay and figures in the foreground with Mount Pelée in the background. The Rev. Willyams was chaplain on the Boyne in 1793, during England's war with France. In 1796, Willyams returned to London and published An Account of the Campaign in the West Indies, which included six drawings by Willyams, all rendered in the difficult aquatint technique by Samuel Alken. Details of the beautiful town, which was the commercial center of Martinique, include the opera house, Ursuline convent, fort, guard house, and former Jesuit college. St. Pierre was destroyed by Mount Pelée in 1902.

References:

Condition: A

Beautiful contemporary color on a sheet with minor toning and a repaired tear at top left, not affecting the image.

Estimate: $475 - $600

Sold for: $350

Closed on 11/15/2023

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