Showing posts with label 1799. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1799. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

The sailor and banker, 1799


The Sailor and Banker, 1799. Lewis Walpole Library.
I'm having some trouble with formatting today, so here the the rest of the information for this caricature. As always click on the link to the Walpole to see the original.
"The sailor and banker, or, The firm in danger"
Woodward del. ; etched by Rowlandson.
London : Pubd. Octr. 28, 1799, by R. Ackermann.
Today's tar is trying to get some money from a banker, who gazes up at him unconvinced. The caption reads:
I say- my tight little Fellow- I've brought you a Tickler!
A Draught for Twenty Pounds, thats all- but dont be down
hearted- you shant stop on my account.- Ill give you two
days to consider of it!
This sailor is dressed pretty well with two watch fobs and a tobacco case - perhaps that's why he needs some money!
Jack wears pointed-toe shoes with big yellow metal buckles and blue stockings, with the strap on his left foot appearing to be trained. His white trousers are loose. Gold watch fobs hang from watch pockets on both sides - an ostentatious sailor style that shows off his wealth. His single-breasted blue jacket has lots of small cloth-covered buttons up the front, and five small cloth-covered buttons on the sleeve worn unbuttoned. A white shirt is glimpsed at his wrist. In the one visible welted jacket pocket he has a yellow metal tobacco case.

His waistcoat is yellow with small yellow buttons, and he wears a red handkerchief loosely tied around his neck with the end draping onto the back. Under his arm he carries a stick, though it is small and thin instead of the sailor's usual cudgel. His brown hair is short and curly, and in one hand he holds a black round hat.

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

That accounts for it, 1799

"That Accounts for It." Isaac Cruickshank, London, 1799.
The Lewis Walpole Library.
 Today's print from 1799 is a Cruickshank caricature featuring a variety of characters, both civilian and military. Our sailor sports an unusual hat that looks a bit more like a cap than a round hat. He carries a black stick under his arm and is missing his leg below the knee: the limb has been replaced by a black-painted peg leg.

This will probably be a print I revisit in a few years when I have more understanding of the time period to explain the context of this print.

"Why I say my hearty - we hear nothing of the French Navy now -
I suppose they got so cursedly lick'd the last time,
they did'nt [sic] like it - eh - my hearty -
aye That - accounts for it."