A small painting of HMS Trafalgar at the entrance to Grand Harbour by Giovanni Schranz has come to light at Lyon & Turnbull auctioneers in Edinburgh.
The painting valued at £1,000 is inscribed 'To Vice Admiral Fanshaw K.C.B - A souvenir from Mr & Mrs Tagliaferro, Malta, May 186...' .
It will be sold on December 2, 2009 at their Fine Paintings Sale in Edinburgh.
Nick Curnow, Managing Director of Lyon and Turnbull and Painting Specialist said: "In recent years extensive research has revealed much of the huge contribution the Schranz family has made to Maltese painting since the date of Anton's arrival on the island in 1817. From this time, and until his death in 1839 it can be difficult to separate the work of Anton and his sons Giovanni and Antonio both of whom studied under their father."
On the death of his father Giovanni opted to continue the family business and to increment his income by endorsing the new process of lithography. In addition he ran a painting school, and directly influenced the work of later generations as typified by Girolamo Gianni and Charles Ferro.
Giovanni exhibited widely at the London Exhibitions of 1851 and 1886 and the Paris Exhibition of 1867, and his work was purchased by both Queen Adelaide, widow of William IV and Queen Victoria.
Admiral Arthur Fanshawe was born in 1794 the third and youngest son of Captain Robert Fanshawe, Resident Commissioner of Plymouth Dockyard. Fanshawe joined the Navy aged 10 and was made Captain by the time he was 22. After a rapid rise through the ranks and time spent in the Eastern Mediterranean, off West Africa and in North America and the West Indies Fanshawe was made Vice-Admiral in 1857 and from 1858 to 1860 he was Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in the Flagship Marlborough.
In 1860 Fanshawe returned to Britain as Commander-in-Chief at Devonport. He was made Admiral in 1862 and died in 1864 aged 70 after 60 years in the Navy. The donor of the painting was probably Biagio Tagliaferro, one of the principal merchants in Malta and President of The Malta Bank, although Giacinto Tagliaferro who owned a Maritime Insurance Company remains a possibilty.