French school, early 19th century.Schooner Our Lady of Sorrows. Marseilles, 1818.Watercolour on

French school, early 19th century.
"Schooner Our Lady of Sorrows. Marseilles, 1818.
Watercolour on paper.
Signed (illegible), located and dated in the lower right corner.
Elizabethan frame with boxwood marquetry.
Soiling. Moisture stains.
Measurements: 45 x 61 cm; 55 x 71 cm (frame).
This type of naval painting is of great documentary importance. The watercolour, resolved with precise strokes and just chromaticism, follows the graphic precepts of 19th century naval painting, nautical painting being a valuable genre for documenting naval history from an artistic and technical point of view.
The schooner Dolores, Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, also known as La Jabonera, was a merchant ship registered in the royal seat of Montevideo. In February 1799, its captain Bartolomé Rosiano informed Viceroy Olaguer y Feliú of the departure from Rio de Janeiro of two English frigates destined for the River Plate. Incorporated into the Royal Navy's small squadron on the river and armed with two 18-gauge cannons and ten smaller pieces, in November 1804 she had been used by the pilot Andrés de Oyarvide to explore the area of Cabo Corrientes. She was captured during the British invasion of 1806 and under the command of Lieutenant Herrick was the only ship that hindered the transfer of the forces that under the command of Santiago de Liniers began the reconquest, as she was anchored in the access channel to San Isidro. Once the Dolores was recovered, its 18-piece guns were disembarked and added to Liniers' artillery fleet.