Trafalgar Day, 1905
by William Lionel Wyllie
The inscription, lower
right of the picture, reads:
"W L Wyllie Oct 21st 1905 Trafalgar day".
Part of the artist's inscription at the lower edge of the work (normally hidden by the mount)
Removal of the painting from its frame revealed further
inscriptions by the artist along the bottom edge. These have been
included in the print and read, (left to right) "Point – Glory – Victory
– Blockhouse – St Vincent - Gosport". The print may be framed with these
inscriptions hidden (as with the original) or exposed to view. They were
a useful find as they tell us that the vessel to the left of Victory is
HMS Glory, a 'pre-Dreadnought' battleship launched in 1899. In 1905 she
had just returned from five years as flagship on the China station. The
three-master in the right distance is the training ship St Vincent, laid
down in 1806 as a 120 gun first rater but not actually commissioned
until 1834. She was broken up the year after the picture was painted.
In conjunction with the owners the Museum has produced a limited edition
of only fifty prints, which will be for sale at the Guernsey Museum
Shop. This is a facsimile of the whole work (including the lower
inscription and areas normally hidden by the mount - full image size 288 x
475 mm.) using conservator-approved, archival quality inks, printed on a
large format Mutoh press. The edition is hand finished by master
printers, on German Etching 330gsm rag paper.
Sheet Size:
350 x 533 mm. (13¾ x 21 inches)
Price: £60.00 (print
only)