Royal Yachts, one Ketch Rigged and one Smack Rigged, by L. De Man RMG BHC0979

Royal Yachts, one Ketch Rigged and one Smack Rigged
Two royal yachts, in port-quarter view, side-by-side. One is ketch-rigged and may be the 'Fubbs' and the other is smack-rigged, possibly the 'Katherine'. The yacht to the left is firing a salute and a number of men can be seen on the decks of both vessels. Numerous other ships are visible in the background to the right.
De Man was a Dutch artist who worked in England over the period 1707-20, arriving at about the time of the death of van de Velde the Younger. He worked for some of the time at or near Deptford on the Thames, where nearly all the ships that he portrayed were based. He was a competent and accurate recorder of yachts and shipping familiar in the lower reaches of the Thames in the early years of the 18th century. His signature, where it occurs, is 'L. D. Man' in the extreme lower left or right corners of paintings and with the 'D' superposed. This is most likely to be a contraction of 'de', in the same form as used by the Delft painter Cornelius de Man (1621-1706), one of a large Delft family of that name. There is no firmer evidence of a Delft connection for L. De Man but it may have been his point of origin.
This painting is one of a pair; see also BHC0980. (Framed)

Royal yachts, one ketch rigged and one smack rigged