Nicholas Pocock: H.M.S. Emerald and H.M.S. Amethyst, 1811
Credit: National Maritime Museum
This oil painting on canvas shows HMS Emerald under full sail with HMS Amethyst on the same tack in the background. The gilt frame bears a plaque reading, ‘H.M. Frigate Emerald 36 guns (Capt. F L Maitland) and H.M. Frigate Amethyst 36 guns (Capt. M. Seymour) chasing the French frigate Niemen 46 guns in the evening of 5th April 1809. Resulting in her Capture on the following day. Nicholas Pocock 1811, relined. English, circa 1811. This is sold together with a carved and painted model of HMS Emerald, 1811. She is finely modelled and painted with a white hull, black Plimsoll line, yellow topsides and red cannon ports, raised on the original mahogany stand with turned feet and a plaque reading ‘HMS Emerald, 36 Gun Frigate. Launched on the Thames in 1795. A scale model ½”-1’ made for Captain F. L. Maitland, her Commander 1806-1911 together with a painting of H.M.S. Emerald by Nicholas Pocock 1811’. English. Norman Napier Boyd, ‘The Model Ship: Her Role in History’, Woodbridge, 1988, p.48, pl.33 illustrates a very similar model of HMS Centurion from the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. HMS Emerald was a 36-gun Amazon-class frigate designed by Sir William Rule, 1794 and completed on 12 October 1795. She joined Admiral John Jervis's fleet in the Mediterranean and later sent to hunt down
and capture the crippled Santisima Trinidad, which had escaped from the British at the Battle of Cape St Vincent. Emerald was supposed to have been present at the Battle of the Nile, but in May 1798 a storm separated her from Horatio Nelson's squadron and she arrived in Aboukir Bay nine days too late. She was part of Rear-Admiral John Thomas Duckworth's squadron during the action of 7 April 1800 off Cádiz, served in the Caribbean under Samuel Hood and returned to home waters by 1806, finally being broken up in January 1836. Nicholas Pocock, (2 March 1740 – 9 March 1821), followed his father's profession and was master of a merchant ship by the age of 26. During his time at sea, he became a skilled artist by making ink and wash sketches of ships and coastal scenes for his log books. In 1778 he gave up the sea and devoted himself to painting. The first of his works were exhibited by the Royal Academy in 1782 and he was then commissioned to produce a series of paintings illustrating George Rodney's victory at the Battle of the Saintes. In 1789, he moved to London, where his reputation and contacts continued to grow. He was a favourite of Samuel Hood (who commanded Emerald in the Caribbean) and was appointed Marine Painter to King George. He was also present at the Battle of the Glorious First of June in 1794, on board the frigate Pegasus.
