Engraving - Admiral Hood, 1795

Engraving - Admiral Hood, 1795.

Overall: 79cm (31in) x 58.5cm (23in).

Mezzotint. Full length portrait of Viscount Hood, left arm resting on rocks and right hand on sword, eyes to front, wearing naval uniform and holding tricorn hat, ships in harbour beyond; with the Hood coat of arms in the lower margin. Engraved by Valentine Green after Lemuel Francis Abbott. Lettered with title, production and publication detail: ‘The Right Honble Lord Hood, Admiral of the Blue, And Commander in Chief of His Majesty's Fleet in the Mediterranean’: ‘Painted by L.F. Abbott’ / Engraved by V. Green Mezzotint Engraver to his Majesty & to the Elector Palatine’ / ‘Published by L.F. Abbott Caroline Street Bedford Square Decemr. 1st 1795’. Visible sheet: 66 x 46.5cm. Contained in glazed maple frame.

Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, (1724-1816), entered the Royal Navy in 1741 and served as a midshipman under Lord Rodney. He saw active service in the War of the Austrian Succession. During the Seven Years' War he was stationed in the English Channel. He drove a French ship ashore in Audierne Bay, captured two privateers in 1757, and was engaged under Rodney in 1759 in the Raid on Le Havre, destroying the vessels intended for a proposed invasion of Britain. During the American Revolutionary War, he held senior command as Commander-in-Chief, North American Station and then as Commander-in-Chief, Leeward Islands Station. Inl 1782 Hood commanded a division at the Battle of the Saintes in which Rodney thwarted a combined French and Spanish fleet intent on an invasion of Jamaica. Hood was ordered to chase, and captured four ships at the Mona Passage on 19 April 1782, thus completing the victory. The French commander De Grasse was captured and taken back to Britain as a prisoner. While serving in the Caribbean, Hood became acquainted with, and later became a mentor to Horatio Nelson, then a young frigate captain. In 1782 Hood introduced Nelson to the Duke of Clarence, the future King William IV, who was then a serving naval officer in New York. Hood went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, then First Naval Lord and, after briefly returning to the Portsmouth command, became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet during the French Revolutionary Wars.

Price

£1350.00

This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance