Description

The HMS 'Victory' was the flagship of Admiral Sir John Balchen, and she was the last British First Rate to be armed entirely with bronze cannons. She was wrecked by a violent storm near the Race of Alderney in 1744. The entire crew including the admiral perished. The hand-colored engraving depicts a dark and cloudy scene with a partly sunken ship (stern side up) in the foreground. Cannons fire to signal distress to the nearby ships barely visible in the darkness at the left. A circular opening in the clouds spotlights the 'Victory.' The text in the bottom margin is in English and French.

Type

stamp

Location

recto, bottom center

Text

Clark Collection MIT

Type

graphite

Location

recto, bottom right

Text

7-8

Type

graphite

Location

verso, bottom center

Text

F-41