Monday, March 6, 2017

The Whale Fishery and Killing the Bears, 1744


The Whale Fishery and Killing the Bears, engraving from "Navigantium atque itinirantium bibliotheca," Volume 2, T. Woodward, 1744, John Carter Brown Library.

Whalers are only rarely featured on this blog. I would like to change that. Today's print depicts a number of ships all harpooning whales and killing bears in the Arctic.


The sailors all wear jackets which end about the top of the thigh. Their hats are a mixture of round and cocked, with a couple of caps thrown in for good measure.


These tars attack a bear with harpoons and a comically oversized club. These men wear very small cocked hats, jacket that match the fellows afloat, and a mix of breeches and trousers.

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