Maritime.- French School (late 18th century) Study of a French man-o-war, after the engraving 'Description d'un Navire Royal' published in Georges Fournier's 'Hydrographie ...' of 1667, pen and ink, watercolour and bodycolour, traces of pencil, paper overlay on one flag, on laid paper with watermark of a fleur-de-lis, sheet 370 x 475 mm. (14 1/2 x 18 3/4 in), the lower section appears to have been extended, possibly slightly later alongside the change of flags, numerous careful repairs to small nicks and minor loss, handling creases, light browning and surface dirt, unframed, [ca. 1790s].

⁂ Beneath the overlay on the second flag from the right, is a flag featuring the fleur-de-lis used by the Navire Royal between 1638 and 1790, and which relates to the engraving from 1667. The tricolour of the overlaid flag was used by the French Navy during the Revolution, only from 1790 to 1794; the tricolour flag atop the main (centre) mast, the "Grand pavillon de France", was probably added to cover up a royal flag also.