The English Prize at the Ashmolean; Other Oxford Museums to Visit

Capture of the Amazone

Robert Dodd, The capture of the Amazone by HMS Santa Margarita, 29 July 1782. Oil on canvas, 77.5 x 120 cm;© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich presented by Eric Miller through The Art Fund.

Editor's Note: If you travel to the London Olympics, include a side trip to Oxford for the Ashmolean Museum's treasures. Other museums in the same city are: The Museum of Science and History, Pitt Rivers which cares for the Oxford's collection of anthropology and world archaeology and Oxford Museum of Natural History featuring the Oxfordshire dinosaurs, the dodo, and the swifts in the tower.

A feature of the Museum of Natural History highlights 'favourite things' pointed out by employees of the Museum, such as that of Jennifer Wright of the Museum shop:

"As I look up from the Museum’s shop the arches form a frame to the view of the Touch and Feel tables in the Court, and I am reminded of Alice through the looking glass. Here I can watch the excitement and delight on children’s faces when first encountering a wild animal close up – feeling the fur of the fox for the first time, or the rough scaly texture of the baby Nile Crocodile, and showing amazement at the size and age of fossilised dinosaur eggs. An experience such as this can hold a lasting memory and even be the spark to a lifetime’s interest in the wonders of nature."

The story of the Westmorland, an armed merchant ship sailing from Livorno to London in January 1779, is one of colourful 18th-century personalities and modern detective work. Consigned to the ship, by a cast of characters that included artists, aristocrats and dealers, was a precious cargo of art and antiquities, books, and luxury goods such as 32 wheels of Parmesan cheese. Captured by two French warships on 7 January 1779 and declared a ‘prize of war’, the Westmorland’s cultural goods were acquired by King Carlos III of Spain who presented many of the works of art to the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid. Other items were eventually scattered across Spanish museums; one painting ended up as far away as St Petersburg.

Reconstructed with archival discoveries and research in Spanish collections, The English Prize exhibition presents over 120 objects including paintings, drawings, sculptures, books and maps from the fateful voyage, in a vivid recreation of the Grand Tour and the high seas.

The exhibition is the result of an extraordinary research project begun in the late 1990s, with gaps in the story filled by discoveries made in recent years. It was found, for instance, that the mysterious marking ‘P. Y’ on books and drawings in the Academia indicated ‘Presa Ynglesa’ (‘The English Prize’). The original inventories of the ship’s crates which survive in the archives in Madrid are remarkably thorough and have allowed the identification of many items which were on the Westmorland when it was captured. Portrait of an Unknown Man

Using these records and studying the notes and marginalia scribbled on books and maps by their owners, it is now possible to link the objects and works of art to the individuals who were sending them home to Britain. Amongst the highlights of the exhibition are portraits of Grand Tourists Francis Bassett and George Legge (Viscount Lewisham), by Pompeo Batoni; a group of amazingly fresh watercolours by John Robert Cozens made on his first trip to Italy; and portrait busts by Irish sculptor Christopher Hewetson who was working in Rome.

Of the tourists, collectors and dealers who had consigned works of art and souvenirs to the Westmorland, we find the Scottish painter Allan Ramsay; the diplomat and dealer John Udny; a Scottish landowner and lawyer, Sir John Henderson of Fordell; and such a high ranking aristocrat as the Duke of Gloucester, brother of George III.

Dr Catherine Whistler, Senior Curator for European Art at the Ashmolean, said, “British tourists in Italy in the 1770s were time-travellers, imagining themselves in the classical past amidst the landscapes and ruins they encountered on their journeys. The maps, books and antiquities that they purchased and works of art they commissioned were imbued with meaning and memories."

Visitors to The English Prize have the opportunity to step into a time-capsule of this world and experience the fascinating story of the Westmorland, its voyage, and its treasure.”

Portrait: Unknown artist, Portrait of an Unknown Man, c. 1777. Oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm© Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Museo.

17 May–27 August 2012

Yale Center: The exhibition will be shown at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven from 4 October 2012 – 13 January 2013

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The English Prize at the Ashmolean; Other Oxford Museums to Visit

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