Lot 47: Adam Silo , Amsterdam 1674 - 1760 Dutch merchant men, a kaag and other sailing vessels in choppy waters oil on canvas

signed lower centre: adam silo oil on canvas

measurements note 56.6 by 76.6 cm.

Weltkunst, 66, January 1966 (advertisement);
Connoisseur, 163, December 1966 (advertisement).

With Richard Green, London, by 1966;
Anonymous sale, Amsterdam, Paul Brandt, 25-28 November 1969, lot 17.

THIS AND THE FOLLOWING LOT ARE PROPERTY FROM A DUTCH PRIVATE COLLECTION
This painting is a fine and characteristic example of Silo's marines, which were much-admired for the closely observed details and extraordinary accuracy of the ships. It is not surprising that Silo proved himself to be a highly talented painter of seascapes, for he was a successful shipbuilder in Holland, Sweden and Russia, and a sea captain himself until the age of thirty. He also made navigational instruments and wrote several books on the subject of shipbuilding. In 1697, he was appointed master of maritime technical drawing to the Russian Tsar Peter the Great, during the latter's stay in Amsterdam.υ1 The Tsar commissioned Silo to paint at least five marines.
υ
A closely related composition with a similar variety of ships was sold, London, Sotheby's, 27 April 2006, lot 65.

1. See R. Preston, The seventeenth century marine painters of the Netherlands, Leigh-on-Sea 1974, p. 43.