A Sailor sitting for his Picture, c. 1800-1810

"A Sailor sitting for his Picture" Royal Museums Greenwich.

Suspiciously reminiscent of the 1807 print "A Sailor Sitting for His Miniature", today's caricature also features a sailor being painted by an artist. Today's print is undated and no date is given with the various institutions that hold a copy, but given the strong resemblance to the 1807 print, Jack's general style of dress, and other conventions for showing Jack in caricature at the time, the first decade of the 19th century seems likely, as I haven't been able to track down further information on the years this publisher was active.

This print is from the publisher M. Creary in Dublin and Jack is dressed in much the same style as the London print. Both sailors even have the same long side-whiskers and large spot on their faces, and are seated in much the same attitude. When combined with almost the exact same dialogue ("Carlisle Bridge" from today's print is replaced with "London Bridge" in the 1807 Woodward & Roberts print) the print becomes part of the larger narrative of publishers and artists using and reusing images in different cities in an era before strong copyright protection.

Jack wears pointed-toe brown pumps with large white buckles, striped red trousers, and a gold fob with pink ribbon at his waist. His double-breasted blue jacket is worn open with the cuffs unbuttoned, and the buttons are a grey color that looks like it might be meant to represent pewter. Under the jacket a massive yellow and orange plaid (?) handkerchief is tied loosely around his neck, and an oversized round hat with a blue hatband and huge blue rosette sits over a full head of curly brown hair. A brass tobacco case (absent in the London print) tucked into a welted jacket pocket goes nicely with the white clay pipe that he puffs at.

The sailor's prayer, 1801

The Sailor's Prayer. 1801. Lewis Walpole Library.

Leaving the strange shoals of fishermen, today we return to the safe waters of caricatures with this irreverent Woodward and Rowlandson print from 1801, which features a sailor, as always speaking in impenetrable nautical jargon:

"O mighty Neptune! hear an  honest British Tar--thou knowest I trouble not thy Godship every day, I therefore pray thee to grant my Prayer, for I love not long palavering and that there, d'ye see.

Grant me a stout ship, and honest Messmates--as the last of my old ones was popped off the Belerophon's bows at the Nile--poor Mat Mizen!! Give me plenty of Grog, and a good commander, and I'll warrant you I'll shave the Don's wiskers, and as to MOUNSEER, if I comes athwart his hauser again, I'll shiver his Jib, and dowse his three-coloured rag, and revenge the death of Mat Mizen, d--n me--I beg your honour's pardon for swearing, but its a way I have--however, I still say, if I get into Mounseer's wake, I'll back his top sails, split my Timbers.

Worthy Master Neptune! send us a good prize, I beseech thee, and be not sparing in brandy and tobacco--give us also a few chests of the Don's dollars, for Mounseer hasn't got none, no more than there is in your three-pronged boat-hook. When we arrive in port, send us handsome Doxies, and keep us from the lee-shore, that thou knowest I hat as I do an empty can, or a dry quid. Grant me but these, and capsize my Trunions if I don't ever praise thee, and the Messmate that wont join me, may he be stuck upon the lee-yard arm of a storm night! Lastly, I pray thee to keep me from the disgrace of the Bilboes-save me from a Guinea-man and a Tender, and I'll serve cheerfully, and sing King George and his Navy for ever.--Huzza! to the end of the chapter."

The sailor, seated on a chest on the deck of a ship, is smoking a white clay pipe, with an oval tobacco case and a tankard easily within reach. He wears pointed-toe shoes with gold buckles, white stockings, red and white striped pants, a blue jacket with three buttons at the cuffs, at least two of which are worn unbuttoned, and a black neck-handkerchief tied tightly around his neck with the ends hanging outside his jacket. His dark hair is short and curly.

The sailor and the ghost, 1805

Today's sailor comes from a broadside ballad published in 1805. It details the story of a sailor who gets two women with child, marries only one, and is at last revenged by his jilted lover's ghost, who followed him to the sea after hanging herself. The moral at the end of the ballad is this:
You that do to love belong
Now you have heard this moumful song
Be true to one lest ill betide
And don't delude poor woman kind

"The Sailor and the Ghost". London, 1805. Lewis Walpole Library.

This is the first time I've covered a broadside ballad, and it's an interesting change from my usual study of caricatures. While this etching is still not treated with the same amount of verisimilitude as a serious subject like a historic painting, the sailor is less exaggerated: in particular his hat is not drawn oversized and "squashy" like sailors in caricatures of the late 1790s-early 1800s are often drawn wearing, but more realistically with a straight-sided, medium crown with a flat top.

Jack has short, curly hair, clearly visible since his round hat has fallen off his head. The black round hat has a white lining and a straight-sided medium crown and a brim of medium size. He wears a dark-colored triple-breasted jacket that ends at his upper thigh, with a white single-breasted waistcoat and shirt underneath. His black neck handkerchief is loosely-knotted around his neck, with the knot falling around his lower breastbone. His white trousers are tight at the ankle and looser in the thigh. On his feet he wears pointed-toe black buckled shoes and white stockings.

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.

The sailor, 1792

"The Sailor". S.W. Fores, London, 1792. The Lewis Walpole Library.

Today's image is a romantic English mezzotint from 1792. The scene it portrays is from a popular story from the 1780s entitled "The Adventures of a Hackney Coach", reprinted in numerous editions in England and America throughout the end of the 18th century. A sailor (speaking in the caption in nautical jargon) hands a letter to a woman in torn clothes, while the titular hackney coach waits in the background:

Hollo!—pilot! tell that there lass with the short petticoats and tight heels to step aboard, I've got a letter from her brother for her."

"What cheer! what cheer, Nan!— what storm hast thou been in, my lass, thy rigging seems a little tattered and yet thy bottom is tight and clean?"

"The storm of adversity, says the poor girl—"O,—an' that be all, here is what will set thee to rights speedily, my girl;" pulling a dirty letter from his pocket.—She read it, and found it contained an order on her brother's owner for ten pounds.

Our sailor wears pointed-toe shoes with square white-metal buckles and red and white striped trousers that end at the ankle showing white socks. On his upper body a white waistcoat with a few buttons undone at the top combined with a tightly-tied voluminous black handkerchief shows a blue and white checked shirt beneath. His long blue jacket has short tails that reach to his thighs, with seven large yellow metal buttons up the front. A large gold fob hangs from a wide green ribbon at his waist, and he carries a stick in one hand. 


His hat reminds me of one from The Flowing Can (1791), as it is bound around the brim and the base of the crown with what looks like yellow tape. His long brown hair flows down to his shoulders.

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."

Proof Positive or no Deceiving a Sailor, 1807

"Proof Positive or no Deceiving a Sailor."
"The caricature magazine, or Hudibrastic mirror." G.M. Woodward: London, 1807.
The Lewis Walpole Library.

Mocking the inability of sailors to ride or judge horseflesh was a common trope of caricatures, seen in several posts already. Today's image from 1807 continues this mockery with another sailor displeased with his mount.

Our sailor wears a round hat with a tall, straight crown with a very wide blue ribbon and enormous cockade, with short, curly red hair peeking out underneath. His blue jacket has small blue buttons and his black handkerchief is tied tightly around his neck. Broadfall trousers with red stripes, white stockings, and black pumps with big gold buckles complete the look. Instead of a sturdy stick the sailor holds a thin riding whip in his hand.

Making a sailor an odd fellow, 1806

Today's post features another Tar trying to join a fraternal organization. This time it's the Odd Fellows, a fraternity founded in London in the mid-18th century for the purposes of fellowship, revelry, and charity.

Making a sailor an odd fellow!! By Woodward and Cruikshank,
published. by T. Tegg. London: 1806.
The Lewis Walpole Library.

 Our Jack wears a black round hat with a tall, flat crown and a blue hat ribbon and rosette. His brown hair is short with impressive sideburns. His blue jacket is double-breasted with white buttons, and a brass case peeks out of one pocket. Around his neck is a loosely-knotted red handkerchief with yellow spots. A bit of white shirt is visible under his handkerchief. He sports white petticoat breeches, white stockings, and pointed-toe shoes with white metal buckles.

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.

An English sailor at a French eating house, 1805

 

An English sailor at a French eating house.
[London] : Pubd. May 30th, 1805 by S.W. Fores, No. 50 Piccadilly.
Lewis Walpole Library.

Today's caricature is by Samuel William Fores, an English illustrator who specialized in caricature. Our English tar is in a situation ripe for humor, as his hearty English appetite struggles with French cuisine. He hands his plate of "shoes" (petites choises, or little things) back to his waiter as the other powdered, ruffled, and curled French diners look on.


He wears a large, squashy round hat with a blue ribbon and large rosette, with brown, short hair curling out from under it. His black handkerchief is loosely-tied around his neck and hangs down to his belly. He sports a red waistcoat with red cloth buttons and  a blue jacket with blue cloth buttons. His cuffs are worn unbuttoned, showing his white shirt below. His white trousers are loosely-cut in the leg and a white cloth tie is visible at the back in the waistband. He wears white socks and black pumps with white metal oval buckles on his feet, and a stick lies on the floor next to him.

A story of a little parson and the sailor, 1797

[A story of a little parson and the sailor]. Richard Newton, 1777-1798.
[England, 1797?]
Lewis Walpole Library.

In this caricature our sailor stands between a little parson and another man, neither of whom seem to be amused by the sailor. A little round hat perches on the sailor's head head showing sparse red hair. A stick is tucked under his arms, and a black handkerchief tied around his neck over his blue jacket with two buttons on each cuff. His broadfall trousers are white with narrow blue stripes, a departure from the usual broad stripes used by print colorists. His pointed-toe shoes have oval buckles, and he wears white stockings.

In the uncolored etching his trousers are shown as striped, indicated by a stippling pattern. The version in the collection of Royal Museums Greenwich is the same except that the sailor's trousers are colored with broad red stripes and his buckles are gold.

Lewis Walpole Library

A Sailor Sitting for his Miniature, 1807

“A Sailor Sitting for his Miniature.” Woodward & Roberts, 1807.
Lewis Walpole Library.

In this cartoon our Jack Tar sits impatiently to have his portrait painted, dressed in his finest and with a bowl of punch at hand. He harangues the painter in the usual cartoon trope of over-the-top sailor jargon liberally salted with nautical phrases and vocabulary - "[A]nd lay in plenty of the true blue about the jacket - and Harkee, young one, don't forget the beauty-spot on the larboard side of my Cheek."


Jack's shore-going rig consists of a black round hat with a blue ribbon and bow around the crown, with curly brown hair peeking out underneath and a clay pipe in his mouth. His double-breasted blue jacket has cloth-covered buttons and his cuffs are worn unbuttoned at the wrist with five buttons. His shirt isn’t visible, but around his neck hangs a loosely-tied black handkerchief. A gold fob hangs down below his jacket, resting on his red and white striped trousers. On his feet he wears white socks or stockings and pointed toe black shoes with oval buckles.

A sailor Miss-taken, 1801

“A sailor Miss-taken”. Woodward del. ; Rowlandson sculp. [London] :
Pub'd. Sept. 12th, 1801 by R. Ackermann, No. 101 Strand, [1801].
Lewis Walpole Library.

In this cartoon a sailor is dressed in broad-legged striped petticoat breeches, with white stockings and pointed-toe shoes with square gold buckles. His blue jacket has blue cloth buttons and his cuffs are worn unbuttoned at the wrist. His waistcoat isn’t visible, but a hint of white shirt can be seen under his loosely-tied black handkerchief. His black round hat sports a black bow, and under his arm is tucked a stick. His brown hair is short and curly.

The sailor and long-back'd horse, 1797

"[The sailor and long-back'd horse]". Richard Newton, [England, 1797?].
Lewis Walpole Library.

This colored engraving is a caricature of a sailor being shown a horse by two grooms. The sailor carries a stick and has a white clay pipe tucked into his black round hat. His striped white and red trousers end several inches above his ankles, showing his white stockings and the oval buckles on his black pointed toe shoes.
The print colorist has portrayed his red waistcoat as having red cloth buttons. The buttons of his blue jacket are not visible. The jacket and waistcoat are worn open, showing a checked blue and white shirt and a loosely-tied black handkerchief that trails down slightly onto his back. Under his hat the sailor has short, curly brown hair.