Boeg van een zeilboot 1797 - 1838

This graphite drawing of the bow of a sailboat was made by Johannes Christiaan Schotel, a Dutch artist, in the early 19th century. The Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century established marine painting as a distinct genre, celebrating the country’s maritime power and the economic prosperity derived from naval trade. Schotel lived through a very different period. The Netherlands had become the Batavian Republic, under French influence, and had lost much of its naval power to Britain. Here, Schotel isn't showing us a mighty warship or a busy trading vessel. Instead, his drawing offers a glimpse into the world of shipbuilding and nautical engineering. The drawing is found within a sketchbook: we see Schotel’s commitment to observing and documenting the minutiae of maritime life. Understanding such drawings requires attention to their place in a broader social and economic history. Art historians use archival sources, such as shipbuilding records and trade statistics, to fully contextualize the art of this period.