[WEST INDIES] &
CORBETT (Sir John).
Fifteen views of the Caribbean
A wonderful group of watercolours illustrating life in the Caribbean during the mid-nineteenth century. Newly promoted to the rank of Commander, Corbett took charge of the Contract Mail ship Wolverine in Caribbean where these watercolours were executed. The ship was wrecked in 1855.
In a four decade career in the Royal Navy, John Corbett served variously in the Mediterranean, West Africa (where he was wounded in action at Lagos in 1851), the Caribbean and the Far East. He found himself on the HMS Inflexible during the Second Opium War (1855-60) and witnessed the destruction of the Chinese war-boats at Tuoung Konan and of the Fatshan flotilla.