Getting up a kedge anchor, 1807

"Getting Up a Kedge Anchor." London: 1807. British Museum.

Today's post is another one from John Augustus's Atkinson's series of prints on "A picturesque representation of the costumes of Great Britain", published from 1807-1808. This engraving from 1807 shows four men in a small boat pulling up an anchor.

Two of the sailors have their backs turned to us, showing long, thick queues. They're both wearing trousers, and the queued man on the left has what looks like a belt on around his waist. The two men facing the viewer wear knotted neck-cloths. Three of the sailors look to be wearing jackets, while the man with his belt visible is both bare-headed and possibly in his shirt.

Two of the sailors wear low-crowned round hats with curled brims. The man getting up the kedge anchor has on the same sort of split-top cloth cap spotted in Monday's post "Sailors" from the same series of engraving, which reader CS suggested might be a carpenter's hat. His jacket has mariner's cuffs, worn closed.

Sailors, 1807

"Sailors". John Augustus Atkinson, London, 1807. British Museum.

This weeks posts will look at some plates containing sailors as portrayed in John Augustus's Atkinson's series of prints on "A picturesque representation of the costumes of Great Britain", published from 1807-1808. The series is more serious than caricatures, but at the same time it does rely on romantic imagery, which might not be wholly accurate to life.

Today's post shows four sailors on the shore talking, two talking in the foreground and two pushing a boat into the water in the background.

The man with his back to the viewer wears a low-crowned round hat with a curled brim. His hair is worn long in a thick queue that reaches to mid-back, clearly tied with a thick tape or ribbon. His jacket, with a turned-down collar and mariner's cuffs worn unbuttoned, is cut short, showing a gap of shirt between his jacket and the waistband of his trousers. His trousers rest slightly above his hips and are tied in the back, cut tight in the leg but loose at the ankle. They're long, reaching to his heels and covering his shoes.

The seated man he's speaking to is smoking a pipe and wearing a hat style I'm unfamiliar with. He wears a very large handkerchief tied loosely around the neck, and a voluminous smock that reaches almost to his knees. On his legs he wears tight trousers or what might be sea boots - it was hard for me to tell. His shoes are tied.

In the background two more sailors push a boat into the water. One of them wears long, queued hair and a jacket with a high-cut waist.  They both wear round hats and trousers that are tight in the leg and loose at the ankle.

Sea Horses of Icy Cape, 1790 (British Tars)

Today's post is shared with permission from British Tars: 1740-1790:

Sea Horses of Icy Cape, M. Brown, 1790, John Carter Brown Library.

"Taken from the book Captain Cook's Voyages Round the World, this engraving depicts a group of tars laying fire into a tightly packed group of walruses (here named "sea horses") in Alaska. Setting aside the humorous expressions on the faces of the seamen and the walruses, we'll dive right in to examining the seamen's clothes.

All of our tars wear plain trousers and close fit short jackets. For those who have their backs turned to us, we see their jackets are without vents or cuffs. The oarsmen amidships show that the jackets have white lapels, and one of them has matching white mariner's cuffs. Though most are without hats, a pair (at the least) wear knit caps, and one rather tall man in the back wears a round hat bound in tape and turned up on one side. It is possible the hat is turned up on both sides, but the perspective here only allows us to speculate."

The sailor's journal, 1805

"The Sailor's Journal". London: 1805. Lewis Walpole Library.

Today's image is from a broadside ballad. Like The Sailor and the Ghost (1805) it is also an engraving from Laurie and Whittle of London. The song is about a Royal Navy officer bidding farewell to his dear Nancy and his eventual return, a scene portrayed above the lyrics to the song. The final half-stanza goes:

At seven up channel how we bore,

While hopes and fears rush'd on my fancy,

At twelve I gaily jump'd on shore,

And to my throbbing heart press'd Nancy.

As the song concerns a naval officer and one is shown in the engraving it's safe to say that sailors in the boat are supposed to be Royal Navy sailors; that said, they don't look much different from other sailor portrayed in engravings. All four sailors wear round black hats. Two of the men in the background are wearing light-colored shirts and don't seem to have on jackets or waistcoats; one has a dark-colored handkerchief tied tightly around his neck.


The sailor in the bow holding a boathook has on light-colored broad trousers, a double-breasted jacket worn open, a double-breasted light-colored waistcoat, a light-colored handkerchief tied in a small knot around his neck, and short hair peeping out from under his hat.

Part of the crew of His Majesty's Ship Guardian, 1790 (British Tars)

Today's post is copied with permission from British Tars: 1740-1790: Part of the crew of His Majesty's Ship Guardian, 1790.



"Part of the crew of His Majesty's Ship Guardian endeavouring to escape in the boats".
Robert Dodd, 1790, National Portrait Gallery (Australia).

"...Robert Dodd's print is somewhat idealized in its portrayal, but decidedly more harrowing. Walls of ice threaten the stranded ship, and the boats are tossed on threatening waves. When the Guardian, bound for New South Wales with convicts aboard, struck ice and was stranded, many of her crew and passengers took to the boats. We see only some of the 259 people that crammed onto the five boats. Of these only fifteen would survive. Riou managed to get ahead of the rapidly gaining water in his hold (at its height, there was sixteen feet of water in his ship) and made it safety. His tale of survival would be the inspiration for the third act of Patrick O'Brian's novel "Desolation Island."

Looking over the larboard rail amidships is Lieutenant Riou. He stands with a certain posture of confidence that the other figures in this piece lack. The men around him scrambling across the deck and down the side into the boats wear trousers, jackets that end at or below the waist, and round hats with narrow brims and tall cylindrical crowns.

Keeping his balance and giving instructions to the men in the boats, the central figure in this detail is Master Celements. His left hand holds an octant, a navigational instrument that will be essential to the survival of the men. The men are ill-equipped for surviving in open arctic waters. Many are without jackets, some without even waistcoats. Many wear loose black neckerchiefs, looser than I am accustomed to seeing in images of sailors. Some have work caps, some round hats with narrow brims and tall cylindrical crows, and one (an oarsman in Master Clements' boat) wears a cloth wrapped around his head. Movies, TV shows, and reenactors often portray sailors with a cloth wrapped around the head, but this is the first image I've seen of it. It is possible that this sailor has bandaged a wound, rather than wearing it for comfort or fashion, but with his back turned toward us, it is difficult to say. The only other figure of note is the tar standing at the mast of his boat, who wears a double breasted jacket and a white neckcloth tied in a fancy sort of manner."

Jack in his element, 1793

Today's image is another uncolored mezzotint from the firm of Robt. Sayer & Co, which specialized in nautical charts and maps. This image accompanies the broadside ballad "Jack in His Element", which describes Jack delivering the sad news to Poll that her husband is dead.

"Jack in His Element." Mezzotint, Robert Sayer, publihsher. London, 1793.
Lewis Walpole Library.

Our sailor is dressed very stereotypically, in baggy, calf-length white petticoat breeches, white stockings, and pointed-toe shoes with large buckles. The sailor's jacket has light-colored buttons and is worn with the four buttons on each cuff unbuttoned, showing a white shirt beneath. Out of one welted pocket hangs a white handkerchief, and what is possibly a spotted handkerchief is loosely tied around his neck. He has long wavy hair that spills onto his shoulders, and wears a black round hat with a semi-conical crown, narrow brim, and what may be three buckles on the side.

Jack and his doxey, 1800

"Jack and His Doxey." 1800. Laurie & Whittle, London.
Lewis Walpole Library.

Today's image is from 1800. A departure from the caricatures in the collection of the Walpole that I've been starting this blog with, this is a more romantic mezzotint by the firm of Laurie & Whittle. Robert Laurie was an engraver who worked for a firm that specialized in maps, charts, and nautical works.


This print shows a cheerful sailor ashore with some pleasures of life nearby: a bowl of punch in his hand and a woman waiting. Jack wears a round hat with a rosette and possibly a pipe in the hatband, his short curly hair flowing out underneath. His dark neck handkerchief is loosely-tied in a bow around his neck and bibbed over his shoulders. His waistcoat is halfway unbuttoned to show a white shirt, and his dark-colored jacket is worn unbuttoned. Trousers and shoes with small buckles, heels, and pointed toes complete his look.

To his left stands a sailor with his back to the observer; he wears petticoat breeches and stockings, a short dark jacket, and carries a stick in his hand. His dark neck handkerchief also bibs over his shoulders. On his head sits a round hat with a rosette tied on the front and shoulder-length hair flowing out beneath.