A battle out of the House, 1798

“A battle out of the House, or, The best way of settling the dispute”.
[Weimar : Im Verlage des Industrie-Comptoirs, 1798]. Lewis Walpole Library.

This caricature drawing shows a boxing match. The onlookers are labeled, and include a soldier, barber, blacksmith, butcher, baker, shoemaker, tailor, and glazier, as well as our sailor, who is visible from the waist-up standing behind the barrier to the ring.


The sailor wears a low-crown black hat with a blue ribbon and blue rosette in it. His white single-breasted waistcoat has white cloth buttons. No buttons are visible on his blue jacket, which has turned-back cuffs. Around his neck is visible a white shirt and a loosely-tied black handkerchief. His short, wavy brown hair is brushed forward around his face, and the head of a wooden stick is tucked under his arm.