“Kotter geboegseerd wordende” [cutter being towed.] Watercolour with pen and washed ink by Joseph Sipkes. Signed and dated in the lower left “J. Sipkes, 1832”. Size. approx. 13 x 19 cm.

A cutter was a smallish single-masted, decked sailboat designed for speed rather than capacity. The naval cutter depicted here has a square topsail hoisted, a gaff sail aft, and two headsails.

Cutters were widely used by several navies in the 17th and 18th centuries and were usually the smallest commissioned ships in the fleet. Navies used cutters for coastal patrol, customs duties, escort, carrying personnel and dispatches, and for small ‘cutting out’ raids. As befitted their size and intended role, naval cutters were lightly armed, often with between six and ten small cannon (or carronades).

Little is known about the marine painter Joseph Sipkes (1787-1852) except that he worked in Amsterdam at the beginning of the 19th century. In addition to a number oil paintings, he made beautiful ship portraits in watercolour.

Price: Euro 625,-