Showing posts with label rosette. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rosette. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

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.