Marine painter Isaac Sailmaker, a contemporary of Willem van de Velde II, may have been named after an earlier occupation. He is thought to have been born in Scheveningen in the Netherlands and came to England as a young man to work for Flemish portraitist and dealer Georg Geldorp. Sailmaker received commissions from Oliver Cromwell and Colonel John Lovett, MP. His paintings included ship portraits, actions of the English fleet and historical subjects, sometimes including imagery features. Very few paintings by him are signed and this has led to some uncertainty in attributing works to his hand. When he died in London he was in his late eighties.
