John Cleveley the Younger, 
British 1747-1786- 
Captain Cook's Ships HMS 'Resolution' and...

John Cleveley the Younger, 
British 1747-1786- 

Captain Cook's Ships HMS 'Resolution' and 'Endeavour' in the Tagus; 

pen, ink, and watercolour on paper, signed 'Jn Cleveley' (lower left), bears old label inscribed 'August 1st 1851 / This set of 8 Watercolour Drawings was left to / Stafford Allen, William Allen, and two others / by their relative Ann Hopkins Smith of Olney / S Allen subsequently acquiring the other share. / John Clevely [sic.] painted the series from original / sketches made by James Clevely [sic.] his brother, who / was carpenter on board Captain Cooks vessel / The Resolution - ' attached verso, 23.2 x 29.5 cm. 

Provenance: 
Ann Hopkins Smith of Olney, Buckinghamshire, a Quaker philanthropist (died 1851); 
Bequeathed to her relatives Stafford Allen, William Allen and two others, S. Allen subsequently acquiring the other share; 
and thence by descent (private collection, UK).

Note: 
'HMS Resolution', originally a merchant collier purchased and refitted by the Royal Navy, was Cook's vessel for his second (1772-1775) and third Pacific expeditions (1776-1780). So impressed was he by her performance that he described her as 'the ship of my choice' and 'the fittest for service of any I have seen.' 'HMS Endeavour', commanded by Cook on his first voyage (1768-71), carried him to Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia, and marked a pivotal chapter in maritime exploration.

The present scene is set on the Tagus River, the Iberian Peninsula’s longest waterway, which flows over 1,000 km from central Spain to its mouth at Lisbon, where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. The subject is either one invented by John Cleveley, as none of his Pacific voyage ships were in the Tagus on their outward or return routes, or the ships have been incorrectly identified, and the watercolour is a view taken on Cleveley's excursion to Portugal and the Azores in 1775-76. The latter is perhaps most likely. 

The Allen family owned Cleveley's set of four original watercolours for the 'Views in the South Seas' (Christie's, London, 23 September 2004, lot 35).