THE 1813 DATED SCRIMSHAW SKETCH BOX OF ROYAL ACADEMY ARTIST "WATERLOO CLARK"

** NEW ** The earliest-known example of dated scrimshaw, fashioned from bone into a hinged crayon case engraved with the Peninsular War battles that the British Royal Academy artist "Waterloo Clark" famously illustrated: 'Salamanka Badahoo Talavera 1813 I. Clark', with a scene of British Royal Horse Artillery depicted to the lid, still with traces of black, white and red crayon (trois crayons), the red for Wellington's redcoats, which may have been sketched after the battle for Clark’s famous work of art.

NOW£20,000.00

Description

British Academy artist John Heaviside "Waterloo" Clark was born in Scotland in 1771, the son of William and Ann Clark, and christened at St. Peter's church, Sudbury, Suffolk on 5 Aug 1771.

A celebrated engraver, landscape and seascape painter, illustrator and miniaturist, Clark exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1801 to 1832, and became known as "Waterloo Clark" after his famous field sketches of the scene of the Battle of Waterloo, the works of art represented with Walter Scott's poems.

Clark’s battlefield depictions of the Peninsular War include Salamanca 1812, Badajoz 1812, Vittoria 1813, Siege of St. Sebastian 1813, the Burning of Moscow 1813 and the Death of Moreau at Dresden, 1813. Clark travelled to and from the Iberian Peninsula by ship in 1813, with his depictions of whaling and fishing scenes also recognised over this period. It is likely that this scrimshaw artwork was undertaken and completed at sea, with the previous earliest dated piece of this artform widely attributed to a whaling ship, Adam of London in 1817.

The interior of the box still has traces of black, white and red crayon, for a French-invented sketch technique widely used at the time called ‘trois crayons’. It seems likely the red crayon would have coloured the shirts of Wellington’s redcoats at the Peninsular War and Battle of Waterloo.

It was these sketches on the field at the Battle of Waterloo that gave “Waterloo” Clark his name and fame. His scenes of suffering and destruction the day after battle are paired with Walter Scott’s poems ‘The Field of Waterloo’.

Clark's spelling of ‘Badahoo’ derives from General Napier’s report on the eve of the siege of Badajoz:

‘Within the ramparts lights were seen to flit here and there, while the deep voices of the sentinels proclaimed that all was well in Badahoo’. In fact, British soldiers were mis-hearing the French sentries who were shouting half-hourly: "Sentinelles! Garde à vous!"'

John Heaviside Clark died in Edinburgh in 1863, aged 91, with an obituary appearing in The Antheneum of 10 Oct 1863. Examples of his work are housed at the Victoria & Albert Museum, National Army Museum, National Maritime Museum and Glasgow Art Gallery.

Watch Steve Nuwar present a short video on this important piece of art history