The French cutter La Paix

In the centre of this oil painting the French cutter La Paix, on a port tack, is about to enter a harbour. The lower luff of her square mainsail is hoisted nearly to its gaff, at the end of which the French flag flies. Several figures can be seen on the deck. A small boat, already tied to the stern of La Paix, is lowering her small square sail, while her crew steady the boat with their oars. Various other French sailing vessels can be seen in the background.

This painting is attributed to Dominic Michael Serres, the Younger (c. 1763-1821), as his father Dominic Serres died on 3rd November 1793. Although the inscribed date 1797 is indistinct, the painting was done after February 1794 when the French flag (on La Paix's gaff) was first ordered to be used. In 1797, La Paix was described as a despatch boat, but later that year may have been taken out of service.

Dominic [Dominick/Dominique] Michael Serres (c. 1763-1821) (“D. M. Serres”) of London was a son of the artist Dominic Serres, R.A. (1719/1722-1793) and his wife Mary Serres (née Colldycutt) (c. 1730-1817). According to Alan Russett (2001) in Dominic Serres, R.A., 1719-1793: War Artist to the Navy, “Dominique Michael was taken on the books on 8 June 1782 as an Able Seaman” and served on the ‘Foudroyant’. He exhibited nine works at the Royal Academy between 1778 and 1804. His brother John Thomas Serres (1759-1825) also frequently exhibited at the Royal Academy, and three of their sisters exhibited there in the “honorary” category: “Miss Joanna Serres”, “Miss A.C. [Augusta Charlotte] Serres” and “Miss S. [Sarah] Serres”.

D. M. Serres married Lucretia Madden, daughter of Wyndham Madden, on 4 August 1788. In Aris’s Birmingham Gazette of 18 November 1803, he was described as “late of No. 28 Northumberland Street, Saint Mary le Bone, Middlesex, but now of No. 17 Mount Street, near the Asylum, Westminster Bridge, Surrey, Drawing Master and Landscape Painter”. He was declared bankrupt in 1803 and 1807 and imprisoned due to debts in 1813. He was buried at Saint Mary, Paddington Green, Westminster, on 3 March 1821. We are grateful to Marcie Doran for providing information about the artist's life.