This Maltese School painting by G. d’Esposito depicts “H.M.S. Hibernia,” docked in Valletta Harbour surrounded by rowing boats. It comes up at Fonsie Mealy’s summer sale in Castlecomer on July 23 with an estimate of 2,000-3,000. This is one of a number of works from the collection of Admiral Charles Beresford, second son of the 4th Marquis of Waterford, who had a long and distinguished naval career in which he rescued the Khartoum Expeditionary Force sent to relieve General Gordon. HMS Hibernia was a 110-gun first rate ship of the line, launched in 1804 – the only ship of her draught – and sold for breaking up in 1902. In 1807-08 she led the British escort that carried the Portuguese royal family and court to Brazil just days before the French attacked Lisbon. From 1816 to 1855 she was the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet; thereafter she was the flagship of the Royal Navy’s base at Malta. Beresford, who died in 1919 and received a ceremonial funeral at St. Paul’s Cathedral, served briefly on her as a midshipman in 1863 while awaiting passage home.
UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,000 AT HAMMER
