This website presents our knowledge and research on this important aspect of the Royal Collection. As of April 2026 it will not be regularly updated and new research on this topic will sit within the main website.

Visit the Royal Collection

Napoleonic Wars (1803-15)

Views of naval engagements and maps of battles

    ROBERT DODD (1748-1815)

    Cordouan, 1809 (Cordouan, Charentes-Poitou, France) 45°36'00"N 01°14'00"W

    1809 or later

    Aquatint with etching and engraving; printed on paper; laid down on paper, the paper backing brought round the edges of the recto | 42.3 x 57.9 cm (image) | RCIN 735144

    A view of HMS Amethyst capturing the French frigate Niemen in the Cordouan Shoals on 6 April 1809. Napoleonic Wars (1803-15).

    Sir Michael Seymour (1768-1834) was created a baronet on 31 May 1809 and so this print, which refers to him as a baronet, must have been made after that date. Having been promoted to Captain on 11 August 1800, Seymour was appointed to the 36-gun frigate Amethyst, seen on the right in this view, in June 1806.

    This print may have been produced as one of a pair with RCIN 735142. The imprint and the signatory of the dedication are very faintly etched.

    • Robert Dodd (1748-1815) (publisher) [bottom centre, below title:] London published by R. Dodd, 41 Charing Cross.

      Sir Michael Seymour, 1st Baronet (1768-1834) (dedicatee)

      Subject(s)

      Sir Michael Seymour, 1st Baronet (1768-1834)
      HMS Amethyst (frigate, launched 1799; wrecked 1811)
      Neimen (ship)
      Navy-France
      Royal Navy

    • Watermark: None visible

      Condition: no fold lines. Verso: brown discolouration

    • 39.1 x 57.9 cm (neatline)

      42.3 x 57.9 cm (image)

      45.4 x 63.0 cm (platemark)

      47.5 x 65.0 cm (sheet)

    • Printed title:

      To Sir MICHAEL SEYMOUR Bar,t his Officers and Seamen, this View, of their Action with the NEIMEN [i.e. Niemen] on the 6,th of April 1809 / being the second french Frigate of superior force taken by them, in his Majesty's Ship AMETHYST, within the space of five Months, is respectfully Inscribed / By their Obedt Servant R. Dodd. [bottom, below view]

      Additional text:

      [bottom left, below title:] Amethyst 36 Guns Neimen 44 Guns.

      Annotations:

      (Recto) [bottom left, black pencil:] XV.144; [bottom right, black pencil:] 4. (Verso) [bottom left, black pencil:] 199.b.

      George III catalogue entry:

      Naval Engagement View of the Action between H.M. Ship the Amethyst, commanded by Sir M. Seymour Bar.t and the Niemen French Frigate on the 6.th of April 1809: by R. Dodd.

    • Subject(s)

      Cordouan, Charentes-Poitou, France (45°36'00"N 01°14'00"W)

    PreviousNext

    Page revisions

    • 3 November 2024

      Current version

    PreviousNext