Peter Monamy
Encyclopedia
Peter Monamy was an English
marine
painter
who lived between 1681 and 1749.
, England
, on 12 January 1681 (new style). He was the last known surviving child of Peter, or Pierre, Monamy, born 1650 in Guernsey
, and his English wife, Dorothy Gilbert; and the grandson of André Monamy, 1612–1680, who had been a strongly committed Commonwealth Parliamentarian in Guernsey during the 1650s. Dorothy Gilbert was the daughter of James Gilbert, who was Master of the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers
in 1670 and 1672. The Monamy family had been prominent merchants and residents of Guernsey since at least the 1560s, and in the Channel Islands
since the 1530s. The painter’s father, Pierre, had a brother named André, or Andrew, who was active in London as a merchant trader in salt and wool, during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. In December, 1696, Andrew Monamy, together with his cousin, Daniel Le Febvre, is described as "guardian" of the children of Peter (i.e. Pierre) Monamy, deceased. The elder Peter Monamy appears to have died in about 1685.
On 3 September 1696, Peter Monamy, aged 15, was bound as an apprentice
for seven years by indenture to William Clark, a former (1687) Master of the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers
, one of London’s ancient guild
s of craftsmen
. Clark is recorded in several capacities in the London of the late 17th century, as a constable
and jury
man, with premises in Thames Street, and on London Bridge
, and practised as what would today be called an interior decorator, with a thriving business. House decoration comprised a wide range of activities, including the provision of paintings as overdoors, and on panelling, house mural
s on canvas as well as decorative sign-boards for trade establishments. William Clark died before January, 1704, when his will was proved.
Monamy was made free of his apprenticeship on 1 March 1704 (new style), the same day as James Thornhill
, a fellow Painter-Stainer, who later became the first native English painter to be knighted, and whose major work is the decoration of the Painted Hall of the Greenwich Naval Hospital, celebrating English naval
prowess and the Protestant monarchy
.
On the 17 April 1706, a daughter of Peter Monamy, painter, and Margaret, is recorded as baptised with the name of Margaret, at St Olave’s, Bermondsey
, near London Bridge, on the south bank of the Thames
. The child's death is registered on 7 May, and it must be assumed that her mother also died. On 9 January 1707 (new style), Peter Monamy is recorded as marrying Hannah Christopher, at Allhallows, London Wall
.
Three children were born to Peter and Hannah Monamy in rapid succession: Andrew, baptised on 15 December 1708, at St Botolph’s; Hannah, baptised on 5 March 1710, at St Mary’s, Whitechapel
; and another Andrew, baptised on 11 August 1712, also at St Mary’s. As there is no further record of these children it must be assumed that all three died young, or in infancy. In 1708 the baptismal register records the couple as living in the Minories
, near St Botolph’s; and in 1712 in Red Lion Street, near St Mary’s. The Minories was an area noted for its gunsmiths.
On 6 October 1708, Monamy took on an apprentice, Henry Kirby, who was bound to him for seven years by indenture. Kirby was the son of Henry Kirby, citizen and gunmaker of London, and a member of the Company of Gunmakers.
Poor Rate Book, which lists “Peter Monyman” as living in Fish Yard, off St Margaret’s Lane, from 1723 to 1729. Fish Yard was almost within the precincts of Westminster Hall
, the seat of government, very close to Westminster Abbey
, and St. Margaret's, Westminster
, which is still the parish church
of the House of Commons
. A daughter, Anne, of Peter and Hannah Monamy, was baptised at St Margaret’s, Westminster, on 3 September 1725.
At present it can only be conjectured what Monamy’s whereabouts may have been during the years between about 1714 and 1720. It is not impossible, however, that he spent some time in Cork
, Ireland
, which at this time was a hive of activity for English, and particularly Huguenot
, craftsmen
. There are two notable paintings by Monamy depicting yachts of the Royal Cork Yacht Club
, which are still owned by the Club. Charles Brooking, father of the highly regarded marine painter, also named Charles
(1723–1759), has left a record of his presence in Ireland; and William van der Hagen, another painter-decorator, and occasional marine painter, is also associated with the city of Cork. Another possibility is of a period of residence in Plymouth
, where Charles Brooking Senior was involved in furbishing Rudyard’s
Eddystone Lighthouse
. There is a striking painting of Henry Winstanley
’s earlier Eddystone lighthouse by Peter Monamy, now in the Plymouth Museum
. A second painting of Winstanley's lighthouse, as well as one of Rudyard's, both by Monamy, are also known. During these years it may reasonably be conjectured that another daughter, Mary, would have been born to Peter and Hannah. There is no known record of her birth in London, but she later married Francis Swaine, on 26 June 1749, at Allhallows, London Wall.
From the above records, and subsequent comments, it can reasonably be surmised that Monamy set up in business on his own account, both as a decorator and easel painter, quite soon after being made free in 1704. He is repeatedly mentioned in later accounts as having owned a shop on London Bridge. William Henry Pyne
, an artist and raconteur (1769–1843) mentions that "Monamy, the marine painter, some of whose pictures were scarcely inferior to Vandevelde's, served his apprenticeship on London Bridge, and exhibited his works in the window of his shop, to the delight of the sons of Neptune, men and boys, who were seen in crowds gazing at his wondrous art."
of the Painter-Stainer’s Company in 1726 was cemented by the donation to Painter’s Hall of what was subsequently described by Thomas Pennant as “a fine piece of shipping”, which is still in situ. Five large paintings, one dated 1725, were produced for Lord Torrington, (1663–1733) First Lord of the Admiralty
from 1727, commemorating his naval triumphs. While establishing himself as London’s pre-eminent marine painter, Monamy will have continued to undertake commissions as a house decorator. There is extant a marine overmantel
firmly attributable to him in a house in Old Burlington Street, near Bond Street
, London, which is datable to 1728.
The climate during the early 1720s was exceptionally favourable, in terms of patronage
and taste, for native English artists. Horace Walpole
expressed it in these words: “The new monarch was void of taste … it was more natural to George I to be content with, or even partial to whatever he found established, than to seek for improvement and foreign ornament." This climate changed, radically, both politically and aesthetically, during the years following the death of George I in 1727, and during the decade from 1730 to 1740 Monamy would have found that his practice became increasingly hard-pressed, as it met with the censure of groups of self-appointed arbiters of taste, and the importation of quantities of old master
paintings from Italy
and France
, as well as of artists and aesthetic concepts from the continent
. These were sufficiently detrimental to native English practitioners to drive William Hogarth
, Monamy’s close contemporary, to expressions of near-fury.
Hogarth is credited with hitting upon the idea of using the opening in 1732 of Vauxhall Gardens
, a pleasure resort for Londoners, as a show-place for native English paintings. Monamy supplied at least four prominently displayed naval scenes for the Gardens. These are now lost, but known from engraving
s. A substantial number of prints, in mezzotint
and line, after Monamy’s works, were produced in the years from about 1730 until just before his death in 1749. These continued to be reproduced and copied, in some quantity, until well into the 19th century.
During his final years many of Monamy’s paintings can be closely associated with the naval exploits of several English fleet officer members of the Durell family of Jersey
, and the de Sausmarez
family of Guernsey, who were themselves linked by multiple marriage ties. In the period preceding Britain’s crucial first bid for global naval supremacy, at Porto Bello in 1740, and during the mounting opposition to the appeasement policies and other political measures of Robert Walpole
, England’s long-serving Premier Minister
, these sea-captains
were among the most active and vociferous of his opponents. Monamy painted numerous versions of Admiral Vernon's capture of Porto Bello, including a canvas for public display at Vauxhall Gardens. It was reported in The Daily Post, a London newspaper, of Tuesday, 20 May 1740, that the Prince of Wales had selected "the Picture representing the taking of Porto Bello" for particular inspection during a visit to the Gardens the previous evening. Frederick, Prince of Wales
, 1707–1751, was at that time publicly heading the political opposition to Robert Walpole.
Monamy continued as the marine painter most esteemed by active serving seamen, even during his slow financial decline and loss of aristocratic patronage, and for many decades after his death. In 1749 George Vertue
expressed this reputation: “his industry and understanding in the forms and buildings of shipping with all the tackles ropes & sails &c which he thoroughly understood made his paintings of greater value; besides his neatness and clean pencilling of sky and water by many was much esteemed, especially sea-faring people, officers & others, merchants &c.” Joseph Highmore noted, in 1766, that "A sailor … is a better judge of the principal circumstances which enter into the composition of a sea-piece, than the best painter in the world, who was never at sea."
Vertue goes on to relate that "he lived some years latter part of his life at Westminster near the river side, for the conveniency in some measure of viewing the water & sky; though he made many excursions towards the coasts and seaports of England to improve himself from nature [...] thus having run thro' his time [...] being decayed and infirm some years before his death, which happened at his house at Westminster the beginning of Feb 1748/9 [...] leaving many paintings begun and unfinished, his works being done for dealers at moderate prices [...] kept him but in indifferent circumstances to his end." Monamy was buried in St Margaret’s Church on 7 February 1749.
These “indifferent circumstances”, which only apply to his last two or three years, have been over-stressed in many later accounts of Monamy’s life. Well over a year after his death, on 26 July 1750, his studio possessions, pictures, prints, drawings, ship model
s, furniture
and collection of china
were auction
ed, the sale lasting a full day. His house, which he must have moved into from Fish Yard some time after 1730, was described in the auctioneer’s advertisement as “next to King Henry VIIth’s Chapel, in Old Palace Yard”, at the east end of Westminster Abbey. The building is noticeable in an engraving of the Abbey by Samuel Wale
included in Robert Dodsley
’s London and its Environs Described, 1761. However, it is clear that Monamy’s two daughters, Mary and Ann, and more particularly his widow
, were left in financial difficulties.
Ann Monamy had married Thomas Cornwall, an apothecary
, on 14 February 1745, at St George’s Chapel, Mayfair
, and their eldest son, Peter Monamy Cornwall, was baptised on 20 January 1747, at St Margaret’s, Westminster. Four months after Peter Monamy’s death Mary Monamy married Francis Swaine, 1725–1782, on 29 June 1749, at Allhallows, London Wall. Their second child, and only known son, was baptised Monamy Swaine on 27 February 1753, at St Dunstan’s Stepney. Monamy Swaine followed his father and grandfather as a marine painter.
The range of Monamy’s painting oeuvre is remarkably wide and varied, and it is apparent that in his prime he must have headed a considerable studio, and that a number of younger and older assistants would have participated in studio productions during his 45 year career. It is very possible that Charles Brooking
was one of these, during the 1740s. Francis Swaine
, who became a highly regarded marine painter from about 1758 onwards, is explicitly referred to as “Old Swaine, pupil of Monamy”, in a memoir of Admiral Sir George Young, who had taken part in the second Capture of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, 1758. In Mark Noble's Biographical History of England, 1806, under the entry for Monamy, it is stated that "Swaine, of Stretton Ground, Westminster, his disciple, and bred under him, was an excellent painter of moon-light pieces."
Throughout the 18th century, and well into the 19th, Monamy was consistently described in all references as "famous", even by Horace Walpole, although Walpole added that "he had little reason to expect his fame", because of his training as an apprentice, and "the views of his family". Later art-historical comment, influenced by Walpole, and especially during the 20th century, has tended to disparagement. In some cases these later accounts of Monamy's life and work are wildly inaccurate. It was nevertheless still possible for Julian Marshall, a member of the South Kensington National Art Library, to note in 1895, that, after completing his apprenticeship, Monamy had been “reckoned the finest painter of shipping in England.”
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
marine
Marine art
Marine art or maritime art is any form of figurative art that portrays or draws its main inspiration from the sea. Maritime painting is a genre that depicts ships and the sea—a genre particularly strong from the 17th to 19th centuries...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
who lived between 1681 and 1749.
Early life and family
Peter Monamy was baptised at the church of St Botolph’s-without-Aldgate, LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, on 12 January 1681 (new style). He was the last known surviving child of Peter, or Pierre, Monamy, born 1650 in Guernsey
Guernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...
, and his English wife, Dorothy Gilbert; and the grandson of André Monamy, 1612–1680, who had been a strongly committed Commonwealth Parliamentarian in Guernsey during the 1650s. Dorothy Gilbert was the daughter of James Gilbert, who was Master of the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers
Worshipful Company of Gunmakers
The Worshipful Company of Gunmakers is one of the 108 Livery Companies of the City of London.The Gunmakers' Company received a Royal Charter of incorporation in 1637. The Company was, and still is, responsible for proof-testing gun barrels/actions for safety. Thus, unlike many Livery Companies, the...
in 1670 and 1672. The Monamy family had been prominent merchants and residents of Guernsey since at least the 1560s, and in the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
since the 1530s. The painter’s father, Pierre, had a brother named André, or Andrew, who was active in London as a merchant trader in salt and wool, during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. In December, 1696, Andrew Monamy, together with his cousin, Daniel Le Febvre, is described as "guardian" of the children of Peter (i.e. Pierre) Monamy, deceased. The elder Peter Monamy appears to have died in about 1685.
On 3 September 1696, Peter Monamy, aged 15, was bound as an apprentice
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
for seven years by indenture to William Clark, a former (1687) Master of the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers
Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers
The Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. An organisation of stainers, or painters of metals and wood, is known to have existed as early as 1268. A similar organisation of painters, who generally worked on cloth, existed as early as 1283...
, one of London’s ancient guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
s of craftsmen
Master craftsman
A master craftsman or master tradesman was a member of a guild. In the European guild system, only masters were allowed to be members of the guild....
. Clark is recorded in several capacities in the London of the late 17th century, as a constable
Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
and jury
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
man, with premises in Thames Street, and on London Bridge
London Bridge
London Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames, connecting the City of London and Southwark, in central London. Situated between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London...
, and practised as what would today be called an interior decorator, with a thriving business. House decoration comprised a wide range of activities, including the provision of paintings as overdoors, and on panelling, house mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
s on canvas as well as decorative sign-boards for trade establishments. William Clark died before January, 1704, when his will was proved.
Monamy was made free of his apprenticeship on 1 March 1704 (new style), the same day as James Thornhill
James Thornhill
Sir James Thornhill was an English painter of historical subjects, in the Italian baroque tradition.-Life:...
, a fellow Painter-Stainer, who later became the first native English painter to be knighted, and whose major work is the decoration of the Painted Hall of the Greenwich Naval Hospital, celebrating English naval
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
prowess and the Protestant monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
.
On the 17 April 1706, a daughter of Peter Monamy, painter, and Margaret, is recorded as baptised with the name of Margaret, at St Olave’s, Bermondsey
Bermondsey
Bermondsey is an area in London on the south bank of the river Thames, and is part of the London Borough of Southwark. To the west lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe, and to the south, Walworth and Peckham.-Toponomy:...
, near London Bridge, on the south bank of the Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
. The child's death is registered on 7 May, and it must be assumed that her mother also died. On 9 January 1707 (new style), Peter Monamy is recorded as marrying Hannah Christopher, at Allhallows, London Wall
London Wall
London Wall was the defensive wall first built by the Romans around Londinium, their strategically important port town on the River Thames in what is now the United Kingdom, and subsequently maintained until the 18th century. It is now the name of a road in the City of London running along part of...
.
Three children were born to Peter and Hannah Monamy in rapid succession: Andrew, baptised on 15 December 1708, at St Botolph’s; Hannah, baptised on 5 March 1710, at St Mary’s, Whitechapel
Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a built-up inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, England. It is located east of Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west, Fashion Street on the north, Brady Street and Cavell Street on the east and The Highway on the...
; and another Andrew, baptised on 11 August 1712, also at St Mary’s. As there is no further record of these children it must be assumed that all three died young, or in infancy. In 1708 the baptismal register records the couple as living in the Minories
Minories
The Minories is the name of both an area and street in the City of London close to the Tower of London. The street called Minories runs north-south between Aldgate and Tower Hill underground stations...
, near St Botolph’s; and in 1712 in Red Lion Street, near St Mary’s. The Minories was an area noted for its gunsmiths.
On 6 October 1708, Monamy took on an apprentice, Henry Kirby, who was bound to him for seven years by indenture. Kirby was the son of Henry Kirby, citizen and gunmaker of London, and a member of the Company of Gunmakers.
Missing years
There follows a ten year gap in the recorded life events of the painter, as the next confirmed biographical item comes from the WestminsterWestminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
Poor Rate Book, which lists “Peter Monyman” as living in Fish Yard, off St Margaret’s Lane, from 1723 to 1729. Fish Yard was almost within the precincts of Westminster Hall
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
, the seat of government, very close to Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, and St. Margaret's, Westminster
St. Margaret's, Westminster
The Anglican church of St. Margaret, Westminster Abbey is situated in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, and is the parish church of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in London...
, which is still the parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
of the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
. A daughter, Anne, of Peter and Hannah Monamy, was baptised at St Margaret’s, Westminster, on 3 September 1725.
At present it can only be conjectured what Monamy’s whereabouts may have been during the years between about 1714 and 1720. It is not impossible, however, that he spent some time in Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, which at this time was a hive of activity for English, and particularly Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
, craftsmen
Master craftsman
A master craftsman or master tradesman was a member of a guild. In the European guild system, only masters were allowed to be members of the guild....
. There are two notable paintings by Monamy depicting yachts of the Royal Cork Yacht Club
Royal Cork Yacht Club
The Royal Cork Yacht Club is the world's oldest founded in 1720, although this record is challenged by the Neva Yacht Club.- Formation and claim to be the world's first yacht club :...
, which are still owned by the Club. Charles Brooking, father of the highly regarded marine painter, also named Charles
Charles Brooking
Charles Brooking was an English painter of marine scenes.-Life:It is highly probable that Brooking’s father was a Charles Brooking who was recorded as employed by Greenwich Hospital between 1729 and 1736 as a painter and decorator. Charles Brooking senior had earlier been active in Plymouth and...
(1723–1759), has left a record of his presence in Ireland; and William van der Hagen, another painter-decorator, and occasional marine painter, is also associated with the city of Cork. Another possibility is of a period of residence in Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, where Charles Brooking Senior was involved in furbishing Rudyard’s
John Rudyard
John Rudyard was the man contracted to build the second Eddystone Lighthouse, following the destruction of the original building in the Great Storm of 1703. He was neither an architect nor professional engineer, but a silk merchant and a property developer...
Eddystone Lighthouse
Eddystone Lighthouse
Eddystone Lighthouse is on the treacherous Eddystone Rocks, south west of Rame Head, United Kingdom. While Rame Head is in Cornwall, the rocks are in Devon and composed of Precambrian Gneiss....
. There is a striking painting of Henry Winstanley
Henry Winstanley
Henry Winstanley was an English engineer who constructed the first Eddystone lighthouse.-Early life and career:He was born in Saffron Walden, Essex, and baptised there on 31 March 1644...
’s earlier Eddystone lighthouse by Peter Monamy, now in the Plymouth Museum
Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery
Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery in the Drake Circus area of Plymouth, Devon, England is the largest museum and art gallery in the city. It was built in 1907-10 by Thornely and Rooke in Edwardian Baroque style. Its interior was restored in 1954 after being gutted in The Blitz.The Museum has...
. A second painting of Winstanley's lighthouse, as well as one of Rudyard's, both by Monamy, are also known. During these years it may reasonably be conjectured that another daughter, Mary, would have been born to Peter and Hannah. There is no known record of her birth in London, but she later married Francis Swaine, on 26 June 1749, at Allhallows, London Wall.
From the above records, and subsequent comments, it can reasonably be surmised that Monamy set up in business on his own account, both as a decorator and easel painter, quite soon after being made free in 1704. He is repeatedly mentioned in later accounts as having owned a shop on London Bridge. William Henry Pyne
William Henry Pyne
William Henry Pyne was an English writer, illustrator and painter. He trained at a drawing academy in London. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1790. He specialized in picturesque settings including groups of people rendered in pen, ink and watercolour...
, an artist and raconteur (1769–1843) mentions that "Monamy, the marine painter, some of whose pictures were scarcely inferior to Vandevelde's, served his apprenticeship on London Bridge, and exhibited his works in the window of his shop, to the delight of the sons of Neptune, men and boys, who were seen in crowds gazing at his wondrous art."
Later life
On taking up residence as a studio painter, in Westminster in the early 1720s, Monamy’s practice to all appearances entered a new and highly prosperous phase. His standing as a LiverymanLiveryman
For Livery Companies in the City of London, a Liveryman is a full member of their respective Company.Livery Company members fall into two basic categories: Freemen and Liverymen. One may join as a Freeman, and thereby acquire the "Freedom of the Company", upon fulfilling the Company's criteria...
of the Painter-Stainer’s Company in 1726 was cemented by the donation to Painter’s Hall of what was subsequently described by Thomas Pennant as “a fine piece of shipping”, which is still in situ. Five large paintings, one dated 1725, were produced for Lord Torrington, (1663–1733) First Lord of the Admiralty
Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty
The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of the Board of Admiralty, which exercised command over the Royal Navy.Officially known as the Commissioners for Exercising the Office of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland &c. The Lords...
from 1727, commemorating his naval triumphs. While establishing himself as London’s pre-eminent marine painter, Monamy will have continued to undertake commissions as a house decorator. There is extant a marine overmantel
Overdoor
An "overdoor" is a painting, bas-relief or decorative panel, generally in a horizontal format, that is set, typically within ornamental mouldings, over a door, or was originally intended for this purpose.The overdoor is usually architectural in form, but may take the form of a cartouche in Rococo...
firmly attributable to him in a house in Old Burlington Street, near Bond Street
Bond Street
Bond Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London that runs north-south through Mayfair between Oxford Street and Piccadilly. It has been a fashionable shopping street since the 18th century and is currently the home of many high price fashion shops...
, London, which is datable to 1728.
The climate during the early 1720s was exceptionally favourable, in terms of patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
and taste, for native English artists. Horace Walpole
Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford
Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford was an English art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician. He is now largely remembered for Strawberry Hill, the home he built in Twickenham, south-west London where he revived the Gothic style some decades before his Victorian successors,...
expressed it in these words: “The new monarch was void of taste … it was more natural to George I to be content with, or even partial to whatever he found established, than to seek for improvement and foreign ornament." This climate changed, radically, both politically and aesthetically, during the years following the death of George I in 1727, and during the decade from 1730 to 1740 Monamy would have found that his practice became increasingly hard-pressed, as it met with the censure of groups of self-appointed arbiters of taste, and the importation of quantities of old master
Old Master
"Old Master" is a term for a European painter of skill who worked before about 1800, or a painting by such an artist. An "old master print" is an original print made by an artist in the same period...
paintings from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, as well as of artists and aesthetic concepts from the continent
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
. These were sufficiently detrimental to native English practitioners to drive William Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
, Monamy’s close contemporary, to expressions of near-fury.
Hogarth is credited with hitting upon the idea of using the opening in 1732 of Vauxhall Gardens
Vauxhall Gardens
Vauxhall Gardens was a pleasure garden, one of the leading venues for public entertainment in London, England from the mid 17th century to the mid 19th century. Originally known as New Spring Gardens, the site was believed to have opened before the Restoration of 1660 with the first mention being...
, a pleasure resort for Londoners, as a show-place for native English paintings. Monamy supplied at least four prominently displayed naval scenes for the Gardens. These are now lost, but known from engraving
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
s. A substantial number of prints, in mezzotint
Mezzotint
Mezzotint is a printmaking process of the intaglio family, technically a drypoint method. It was the first tonal method to be used, enabling half-tones to be produced without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple...
and line, after Monamy’s works, were produced in the years from about 1730 until just before his death in 1749. These continued to be reproduced and copied, in some quantity, until well into the 19th century.
During his final years many of Monamy’s paintings can be closely associated with the naval exploits of several English fleet officer members of the Durell family of Jersey
Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
, and the de Sausmarez
Sausmarez Manor
Sausmarez Manor is a historic house in Saint Martin's, Guernsey.- The Original Manor House :The first mention of the de Sausmarez family in Guernsey is at the consecration of the Vale church in 1115 followed by a letter dated 1254 in which Prince Edward, Lord of the Isles, afterwards King Edward I,...
family of Guernsey, who were themselves linked by multiple marriage ties. In the period preceding Britain’s crucial first bid for global naval supremacy, at Porto Bello in 1740, and during the mounting opposition to the appeasement policies and other political measures of Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....
, England’s long-serving Premier Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, these sea-captains
Captain (nautical)
A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...
were among the most active and vociferous of his opponents. Monamy painted numerous versions of Admiral Vernon's capture of Porto Bello, including a canvas for public display at Vauxhall Gardens. It was reported in The Daily Post, a London newspaper, of Tuesday, 20 May 1740, that the Prince of Wales had selected "the Picture representing the taking of Porto Bello" for particular inspection during a visit to the Gardens the previous evening. Frederick, Prince of Wales
Frederick, Prince of Wales
Frederick, Prince of Wales was a member of the House of Hanover and therefore of the Hanoverian and later British Royal Family, the eldest son of George II and father of George III, as well as the great-grandfather of Queen Victoria...
, 1707–1751, was at that time publicly heading the political opposition to Robert Walpole.
Monamy continued as the marine painter most esteemed by active serving seamen, even during his slow financial decline and loss of aristocratic patronage, and for many decades after his death. In 1749 George Vertue
George Vertue
George Vertue was an English engraver and antiquary, whose notebooks on British art of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period.-Life:...
expressed this reputation: “his industry and understanding in the forms and buildings of shipping with all the tackles ropes & sails &c which he thoroughly understood made his paintings of greater value; besides his neatness and clean pencilling of sky and water by many was much esteemed, especially sea-faring people, officers & others, merchants &c.” Joseph Highmore noted, in 1766, that "A sailor … is a better judge of the principal circumstances which enter into the composition of a sea-piece, than the best painter in the world, who was never at sea."
Vertue goes on to relate that "he lived some years latter part of his life at Westminster near the river side, for the conveniency in some measure of viewing the water & sky; though he made many excursions towards the coasts and seaports of England to improve himself from nature [...] thus having run thro' his time [...] being decayed and infirm some years before his death, which happened at his house at Westminster the beginning of Feb 1748/9 [...] leaving many paintings begun and unfinished, his works being done for dealers at moderate prices [...] kept him but in indifferent circumstances to his end." Monamy was buried in St Margaret’s Church on 7 February 1749.
These “indifferent circumstances”, which only apply to his last two or three years, have been over-stressed in many later accounts of Monamy’s life. Well over a year after his death, on 26 July 1750, his studio possessions, pictures, prints, drawings, ship model
Ship model
Ship models or model ships are scale representations of ships. They can range in size from 1/6000 scale wargaming miniatures to large vessels capable of holding people....
s, furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
and collection of china
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
were auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
ed, the sale lasting a full day. His house, which he must have moved into from Fish Yard some time after 1730, was described in the auctioneer’s advertisement as “next to King Henry VIIth’s Chapel, in Old Palace Yard”, at the east end of Westminster Abbey. The building is noticeable in an engraving of the Abbey by Samuel Wale
Samuel Wale
Samuel Wale was an English historical painter and book illustrator.-Life:He is said to have been born at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. He was first trained in the art of engraving on silver plate. He then studied drawing under Francis Hayman at the St. Martin's Lane academy...
included in Robert Dodsley
Robert Dodsley
Robert Dodsley was an English bookseller and miscellaneous writer.-Life:He was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school....
’s London and its Environs Described, 1761. However, it is clear that Monamy’s two daughters, Mary and Ann, and more particularly his widow
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
, were left in financial difficulties.
Ann Monamy had married Thomas Cornwall, an apothecary
Apothecary
Apothecary is a historical name for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist and some caregivers....
, on 14 February 1745, at St George’s Chapel, Mayfair
Mayfair
Mayfair is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...
, and their eldest son, Peter Monamy Cornwall, was baptised on 20 January 1747, at St Margaret’s, Westminster. Four months after Peter Monamy’s death Mary Monamy married Francis Swaine, 1725–1782, on 29 June 1749, at Allhallows, London Wall. Their second child, and only known son, was baptised Monamy Swaine on 27 February 1753, at St Dunstan’s Stepney. Monamy Swaine followed his father and grandfather as a marine painter.
The range of Monamy’s painting oeuvre is remarkably wide and varied, and it is apparent that in his prime he must have headed a considerable studio, and that a number of younger and older assistants would have participated in studio productions during his 45 year career. It is very possible that Charles Brooking
Charles Brooking
Charles Brooking was an English painter of marine scenes.-Life:It is highly probable that Brooking’s father was a Charles Brooking who was recorded as employed by Greenwich Hospital between 1729 and 1736 as a painter and decorator. Charles Brooking senior had earlier been active in Plymouth and...
was one of these, during the 1740s. Francis Swaine
Francis Swaine
Francis Swaine was an English marine painter.He was born in 1725, and christened on 7 October of that year at St Dunstan’s, Stepney, London. For many years, and in many reference books, it has been stated that as a young man he worked as an office messenger with the British Navy, but then left...
, who became a highly regarded marine painter from about 1758 onwards, is explicitly referred to as “Old Swaine, pupil of Monamy”, in a memoir of Admiral Sir George Young, who had taken part in the second Capture of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, 1758. In Mark Noble's Biographical History of England, 1806, under the entry for Monamy, it is stated that "Swaine, of Stretton Ground, Westminster, his disciple, and bred under him, was an excellent painter of moon-light pieces."
Throughout the 18th century, and well into the 19th, Monamy was consistently described in all references as "famous", even by Horace Walpole, although Walpole added that "he had little reason to expect his fame", because of his training as an apprentice, and "the views of his family". Later art-historical comment, influenced by Walpole, and especially during the 20th century, has tended to disparagement. In some cases these later accounts of Monamy's life and work are wildly inaccurate. It was nevertheless still possible for Julian Marshall, a member of the South Kensington National Art Library, to note in 1895, that, after completing his apprenticeship, Monamy had been “reckoned the finest painter of shipping in England.”