Petrus Johannes SCHOTEL

(Dordrecht 1808 - Dresden 1865)

Shipping on a Choppy Sea

Pen and brown ink and grey wash, with framing lines in black ink.
Signed P. J. Schotel at the lower right.
Further inscribed P. J. Schotel on the former backing sheet.
267 x 370 mm. (10 1/2 x 14 1/2 in.)
 
It has been suggested that this seascape may depict a view off the coast at Katwijk aan Zee, on the North Sea, with the Katwijk lighthouse – built in 1605 and the second oldest surviving lighthouse in Holland - visible in the left background. A similar wash drawing of shipping in a strong wind by Petrus Schotel was formerly in the Hans van Leeuwen collection.




The son of the illustrious marine painter Johannes Christiaan Schotel (1787-1838), Petrus Schotel was also active as a painter of seascapes, and indeed his unsigned work is sometimes confused with that of his father. A period of study and travel in France between 1827 and 1829 had a significant effect on his style. Schotel worked for several years as a drawing teacher at the Koninklijk Marine Instituut in Medemblik, and was recognized for his particular knowledge of the historical and technical details of ships. From 1851 to 1856 he worked in Kampen before settling in Düsseldorf, where he remained until 1860, when he moved to Dresden. He exhibited in Amsterdam, Groningen, The Hague and Rotterdam between 1817 and 1864. Paintings by Petrus Schotel are in the museums of Amsterdam, Haarlem and Rotterdam, as well as in Antwerp and Cologne. Drawings by the artist are in museums in Amsterdam, Dordrecht, Haarlem, Otterlo, Rotterdam and Stuttgart.

Provenance

Johannes Andreas Jolles, Amsterdam(?)
His sale, Amsterdam, 27 November 1848, lot 256 (‘Een onstuimige Zee; natuurlijk voorgesteld, met vaartuigen gestoffeerd en met dito geteekend’)
Marinus van Regteren Altena, Amsterdam
By descent to Iohan Quirijn van Regteren Altena, Amsterdam (with his posthumous sale stamp [Lugt 4617] stamped on the verso)
Thence by descent.
 

Petrus Johannes SCHOTEL

Shipping on a Choppy Sea