FRANCIS SARTORIUS II (BRITISH C.1777-C.1808)THE BRITISH FRIGATE 'FAVOURITE' BEING ENGAGED BY A SUPERIOR FRENCH SQUADRON OFF THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS ON 6TH JANUARY 1806 AFTER WHICH SHE WAS FORCED TO SURRENDEROil on canvasSigned 'F. Sartorius' and indistinctly dated '180* ' (lower right)42 x 67cm (16½ x 26¼ in.)The 18-gun frigate Favourite was built on the Thames at Rotherhithe and completed for sea in May 1794. After extensive active service first in the West indies and then in the North Sea and in Home Waters, she was sent to patrol off the West African coast where she was sighted and captured by a French squadron off the Cape Verde Islands on 6th January 1806 despite a gallant resistance. Fortunately, her humiliation was short-lived when, just a year later, she was retaken by the British frigate Jason off the coast of Guiana on 27th January 1807. Subsequently renamed Goree, she continued to render valuable service to the Royal Navy throughout the remainder of the Napoleonic Wars and was finally broken up in Bermuda in 1817.We kindly thank Michael Naxton for his help in the cataloguing of this lot.