James II Robbed by Fisherman While Escaping from England, 1850. Pen and black ink, with ink wash, over traces of pencil, 11 ¼ x 15 ⅜ inches (28.5 x 39.0 cm). Collection of Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, accession no. 794’06.
Based on W. M. Rossetti’s notes in the P.R.B. Journal Deverell was working on this design at least by October 1850: “recent designs of his are the converse of Laertes and Ophelia, Claude du Val dancing with a lady of quality after attacking her carriage (in the possession of Stephens), James 2 in his flight overhauled, and his person rifled by Fishermen (given to Gabriel)” (Fredeman 72). After William of Orange landed in Devon on November 5, 1688 James II made contingency plans to flee England. On December 11 he travelled to Sheerness in Kent but bad weather delayed his departure and his boat was boarded by local fisherman. The King was roughly handled and robbed and was subsequently escourted to Faversham and then back to London. James II was ultimately allowed to leave into permanent exile in France on Christmas Day 1688. Deverell’s impetus to paint this subject might have been seeing E. M. Ward’s painting James II in his Palace of Whitehall, receiving the news of the landing of the Prince of Orange in 1688 that was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1850.
Stephen Wildman has commented about this drawing: “The Brotherhood’s quirky sense of humour comes out strongly…Deverell has used a fine brush to complement the austere line of the pen nib, throwing the central figures into strangely surreal relief, and highlighting bizarre details such as the King’s bent sword scabbard and the puzzled delight expressed by those who study his watch chain” (100). This drawing is again characteristic of the early drawings of the P.R.B. carried out in the short period between 1848-51.
Bibliography
Fredeman, William E. Ed. The P.R. B. Journal. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975.
Wildman, Stephen. Visions of Love and Life. Pre-Raphaelite Art from the Birmingham Collection. Alexandria, Virginia: Art Services International, cat. 15.
Last modified 9 March 2022