Figurehead of the ‘Royal Sovereign’ showing Britannia bearing an orb and staff in a chariot, with Neptune and other figures grouped above, and a unicorn below (the lion being implied on the starboard side).

The port side of the elaborate figurehead of the ‘Royal Sovereign’ is signed, inscribed and dated in brown ink ‘W.V.V.J.’ and ‘Roijal soverijn 1701’.

The work started as a faint offset, rubbed on the back, from a bold drawing, and has been strengthened with just enough pen-work to make the elaborate carving identifiable. There is a similar offset of the ship’s quarter gallery in the Ingram Collection of van de Velde drawings (PAF7036).