The Most Hon. the Marquis of Waterford;
His sale, London, Sotheby's, 8 December 1971, lot 22;
There acquired by an anonymous collector;
By whose estate sold ("The Property of a Deceased's Estate"), London, Sotheby's, 22 April 2004, lot 85;
There acquired by the present collector. 

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work has not been recently restored. The canvas is lined with a non-wax adhesive. The surface is stable. The paint layer is dirty, and retouches have blanched in the sky and are visible to the naked eye. Broad glazing in the sky, particularly in the darker clouds, has discolored and is now a slightly chalky grey. Retouches can clearly be seen in the upper right, running diagonally across the building here. There are numerous retouches in the clouds above the trees and in the upper left. There are fewer retouches in the dark cloud in the center of the left side, but there is also retouching in the lower left and lower right sky. These retouches are broadly and inaccurately applied, and the amount of actual damage is not reflected by the amount of retouching. The condition is very good in the darker colors of the foreground, landscape, and water. There is no evidence of any abrasion or discoloration. The rigging seems to be un-abraded, as do the figures and details. The work should be cleaned, and the retouches replaced accurately and only where necessary. The condition would then be seen to be very good.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This ranks among the largest and most ambitious marines paintings by Gillis Peeters. A member of a Flemish family of marine and landscape painters, Gillis became a master of the Antwerp guild of St Luke in 1634 along with his brother Bonaventura, with whom he is known to have shared a studio in Antwerp. His oeuvre consists chiefly of landscapes, many of which reveal a debt to the work of Paul Bril, although he is perhaps best known for a small group of works depicting the coastline of Brazil, where he is believed to have traveled around 1637. The present painting is one of a small number of marines produced by the artist, which are characterized by a greater refinement than found in the work of his brother Bonaventura Peeters. Although some of his earlier pictures are influenced by Andries van Eertvelt, the present work has moved beyond the mannerist tradition and is therefore likely to date to the latter part of the artist's career, during the 1640s or early 1650s.