Mr Richardson said the painting was important because not only does it “document one man’s career path, but he is indicative of a much wider tradition of seafaring in this era among Manx people”.
It was a period when the Royal Navy was rapidly expanding during the American War of Independence, he said.
Mr Richardson explained that traditionally strong seafaring Manx people had previously been taken against their will into the Royal Navy.
However, during Major Crebbin’s time there was a “change in outlook where young men would see it as a career,” he said.
“If you took part in an enemy capture, that ship would become a prize of war [and] would be worth a lot of money, and you would be given a share of that.
“It was a dramatic time in history where the groundwork of the modern world is being established,” said Mr Richardson, adding: “The Isle of Man played a crucial part in that.”
Newspapers from the time indicated that every vessel in the Royal Navy had a Manxman on board, he said.