Untitled Print, 1762

Untitled print, Paul Sandby, 1762, British Museum.

Thanks again to follower Adam Hodges-LeClaire for pointing this piece out to me.

The curators of the British Museum, in the catalog entry for this piece, believe this to be Sandby's reply to William Hogarth's cartoon The Times. The public debate around the peace negotiations to end the Seven Years War got hot in the press, and Hogarth's Times was copied and answered several times by other artists. Sandby's is possibly the most artistically sophisticated of these responses.

There's a lot going on here, and for more on the political message and the various figures, I do strongly recommend reading the curators' catalog entry.

As always, I'm going to focus on the tars in this cartoon. In the frame on the left and out of frame on the right sailors bookend the piece.

Clutching a broken anchor and covered in cobwebs, a sailor and a grenadier stand atop the scroll outside the left frame of the cartoon. They are juxtaposed against a Scotsman beating a legless man with his own wooden leg on the right scroll. The broken anchor is obvious enough, but the cobwebs suggest disuse, which is hard to argue for the Royal Navy in the final year of the Seven Years War. Fighting a war on multiple continents meant that even with the French Navy shattered by the numerous victories of 1759 the British fleet was stretched across the globe and constantly sailing from one ocean to the next. Perhaps Sandby intended this to be a warning of things to come?

This sailor wears a reversed cocked hat with a narrow brim over his bob wig. His handkerchief is worn over the jacket, but the style is indiscernible. The jacket itself is tucked into his wide legged trousers, and may be intended as a frock, as I can't make out any opening on the front. In any case, the jacket ends in slash cuffs. To emphasize his poverty, the sailor has a patch over his left knee. The trousers end about the bottom of the calf.

According to the curators: 'At the extreme right, Edward, Duke of York, Admiral of the Blue, wearing sailor's trousers, and followed by another naval officer, climbs over a blank inn-sign of the Patriot Arms to come to the assistance of his uncle Cumberland.'

His uniform is decidedly that of an officer, and the trousers may be intended to make his affiliation with the sea apparent. I disagree with the curators assessment of the man standing behind him. The handkerchief over his jacket and the stick in his hand are the marks of common seamen, not officers. Neither of these objects are present on the Duke of York himself. The sailor also wears a bob wig.

The Female Bruisers, 1768

The Female Bruisers, John Collet, 1768, Museum of London.

The Female Bruisers, engraved by J. Goldar after John Collet, 1770, Yale University Lewis Walpole Library.

Once again I am indebted to Adam Hodges-LeClaire for pointing me to this piece.

John Collet pops up here and there on this website. His A Rescue, or the Tars Triumphant is one of my absolute favorite pieces.  I had glanced at this piece in the past, but didn't put much thought into it, as it did not have an apparent maritime connection.

That is, until Adam pointed me to the right of the frame.

Two sailors, happy to take in the free entertainment of a pair of 'Female Bruisers,' restrain a madam from interfering. These mariners are the opposite for the righteous defenders of prostitutes Collet extolled in The Tars Triumphant.

The Museum of London Version is the original, but is also low resolution, so I'm pairing it with a high resolution print from the Yale University Lewis Walpole Library to tease out the details.

The sailor in the foreground wears a cocked hat bound in gold or white tape over a loose white bob wig. His blue jacket with white metal buttons is double breasted, and the mariners' cuffs are open. A closely knotted handkerchief of indeterminate pattern hangs from his neck.  It rests over a single breasted waistcoat with narrow horizontal stripes. His check shirt is peeking out from under the jacket. Red breeches are tied at the knee. His shoes bear rectangular buckles.

His mate wears a single breasted jacket over a plain single breasted waistcoat. Our mariner's shirt is open, and he is notably without a handkerchief.

South Elevation of the Stone Lighthouse Completed Upon the Edystone in 1759, 1763

South Elevation of the Stone Lighthouse Completed Upon the Edystone in 1759, engraved by Edward Rooker, figures by Samuel Wale, 1763, Bonhams.

The Eddystone Light is a fixture in the maritime culture of Britain. A true marvel of engineering, this version was completed in 1759.

This 1763 print does not appear to be what the auction page is referring to. Bonhams states that this is a book about the Eddystone published in 1791. Even the engraver does not appear to be the same, with Bonhams identifying him as H. Hughes, whose name does not appear on the print.

A small crew of sailors carry a gentleman (perhaps a sea captain) to the stone. Each wears a cocked hat and shirtsleeves, with bob wigs or their hair bobbed in a seamanlike fashion. At the bow stands a fellow with a single breasted jacket, extending his boathook to the ring presumably installed for that purpose. He wears plain trousers.

The Press Gang, c.1760

The Press Gang, John Collet, c.1760's, from The Foundling Museum.

I was directed to this image by The 18th Century Material Cultural Resource Center. Among their many excellent slideshows are a few focused on naval material culture.

Unfortunately, the Foundling Museum does not have a date for this piece. The 18th Century Material Culture Resource center gives this an approximate dating of c.1760's. Based on the clothing worn by men and women throughout this painting, I would agree with that approximation. As with many tavern scenes of the time, this is a chaotic piece with a lot going on.

Starting at the far left is a tar sharing a word with a woman, possibly his wife. He gestures toward a boy who holds what appears to be a British flag. The sailor wears the familiar reversed cocked hat, perhaps with the brim bound in tape. The tar's blue jacket ends about the middle of the thigh, with slash cuffs. His neckcloth and waistcoat are both red, and his white petticoat trousers that end just below the knee. Gray stockings lead to round toe shoes, but the quality of this copy does not allow us to see the buckles. The boy also wears the dress of a sailor: a round hat with cylindrical crown bound in white tape, blue jacket, and plain white trousers.

In the right of the frame, a pair of sailors drag a poor chap before woman on her knee, pleading for his release. The jack on the left is wearing a  cocked hat, red neckcloth, blue short jacket, petticoat trousers, and plain white or gray stockings. His mate on the right is wearing precisely the same slop clothes, though he might be holding a walking stick.

In the foreground at the right is a sailor lounging on a bench and lifting a lidded tankard. His cocked hat is turned with the point forward, and he wears a red jacket. The petticoat trousers hang long, but we can still see the gray or white stockings about his legs.

In the background a mess of tars play cards and carouse with women. They wear cocked hats and cocked hats, and the bareheaded mariners on the right wear bob wigs. Though the image is faded, they appear to be wearing red neckcloths and waistcoats.

France and England or a prospect of Peace, c.1763

France and England or a prospect of Peace, artist unknown, c.1763, British Museum.

This is one of many political cartoons to address the Treaty of Paris of 1763 which closed out the Seven Years and French and Indian Wars (among others).

A sailor has turned highwayman, and threatens a well dressed man with a pistol. The gentleman seems oddly unperturbed by this turn of events, saying 'This is always The Consequence of peace in England We neglect those in peace that were our Bulwarks in War.' The sailor, despite a gallows well within sight on the hills to the left, is similarly sanguine: 'I may as well Risk hanging fro something as I have being Shott for nothing and I cannot stare.'

Our luckless sailors wears a jacket with at least two vents, and slit pockets at the waist. He wears a wide brimmed round hat with short cylindrical crown. His plain trousers end about mid-calf.

A View of Louisburg in North America, 1762

A View of Louisburg in North America, taken near the Light House when that City was besieged in 1758, Captain Charles Ince, engraved by P. Canot, published by Thomas Jeffreys, 1762, John Carter Brown Library of Early American Images.

A View of Louisburg in North America, taken near the Light House when that City was besieged in 1758, Captain Charles Ince, 1762, Libraries and Archives Canada via Wikimedia Commons.

A View of Louisburg in North America, taken near the Light House when that City was besieged in 1758, Captain Charles Ince, published by Carrington Bowles, date unknown, Libraries and Archives Canada.

The siege and eventual capture of Louisbourg was a major blow to the French in Canada, and a necessary step to the eventual British victory in the French and Indian War. To take Louisbourg, the British commander General Wolfe ordered his soldiers to attack and seize Lighthouse Point on Breton Island. There they erected batteries to bombard the French fleet and fortifications.

Captain Charles Ince of the 35th Regiment of Foot observed and illustrated the scene above, presumably on July 20, 1758, when, as Lieutenant William Gordon of the 40th Foot wrote: '400 seamen were sent on Shore to assist on the right.' They were employed in reinforcing the batteries, which had recently come under a withering French fire, and possibly in working the guns themselves.

The next day, these batteries inflicted the fatal blow on French possession of Louisbourg when they set fire to the Célèbre and Entreprenant. These two warships, along with several others, can be seen floating to the right in the above illustrations, awaiting the doom that these sailors haul to their batteries.

The sailors are uniformly dressed in round hats, jackets that end above the top of the thigh, and petticoat trousers. In the Wikimedia print, they wear blue jackets, while in the Libraries and Archives of Canada version they wear blue and red.

The Raree Show, 1762

The Raree Show! a Political Contrast to the Print of the Times, by Wm Hogarth, engraved by Edward Sumpter after Jefferys O'Neale, 1762, British Museum.

O'Neale offers an answer to William Hogarth's The Times in this densely cluttered political cartoon. Where Hogarth had a fire engine fighting to extinguish the global blaze of the war, O'Neale's engine is surrounded by slumbering firemen. A Tudor king on stilts fanned the flames with a bellows in Hogarth's piece, but O'Neale features a Jacobite on stilts shrilling on bagpipes to draw away attention from the inferno. As if there could be any doubt as to O'Neale's opinion of Hogarth, he took the time to add a dog urinating on his rival's print.

Hogarth featured a sailor carrying buckets to feed the fire engine. O'Neale's sailor is carrying books to burn.

He wears a reversed cocked hat over a bob wig. Around his neck is a striped neckcloth, which is partially tucked into his single breasted jacket with its very short slit cuffs. His trousers are wide and end about the middle or top of the calf. Pointed shoes with rectangular buckles complete his slop clothes.

A View of the Old England just arrived form a Cruise round the Globe, c.1762

A View of the Old England just arrived form a Cruise round the Globe, artist unknown, c.1762, British Museum.

The Seven Years War was a global conflict. Fought from the Philippines to Pennsylvania to India to Germany, it took Britain literally 'round the Globe.' In 1762, the war was drawing to a close with negotiations between Britain and France.

These negotiations, coming at a time when Britain was racking up profound and very public victories, drew a wave of criticism. The unknown artist of this cartoon portrays "the Old England" as a trim fighting ship, carrying duplicitous ministers who mislead their king. Most of the figures are gentlemen in suits and wigs, but a few are common tarpawlins.

At the bow, one sailor steps down the bowsprit over a figurehead of a lion with a crown. As a side note, this is the dominant figurehead style of the time for Royal Navy frigates. The sailor stepping down wears a jacket tucked into his breeches and a jockey style barge cap. His mate gestures towards him, who wears a smock or jacket with slit cuffs, a neckcloth, and cap.

Aloft in the tops on the mizzen is a third sailor. Bald headed and wearing a single breasted jacket tucked into his breeches, he holds a hat or cap in his left hand.

The Antigallican Spirit, 1750's-60's

The Antigallican Spirit, Thomas Ewart, c.1750's-60's, British Museum.

"Would Statesmen but this Picture View-" begins Ewart's inscription on this engraving, "Wear Hearts as honest and as True, the Haughty Gauls with Purse proud Spain, Would be our Vassals on the Main." Ewart offered this one penny broadside, complete with strained prose, lauding the successes of the Antigallican privateer.

Antigallican, under Captain William Forster, was a privateer out of London in the Seven Years War where she met with enough success to inspire a song.

Public Advertiser, January 3, 1757, Page 4.

I have searched through newspapers of the time, and find references to privateers named Antigallican out of Liverpool and Newcastle, but I have yet to find one captained by Forster in 1781, which the British Museum claims is the possible year of publication for this piece. It is possible that I have overlooked a source. It is also possible that this broadside is a fond remembrance of recent memories. Britain's successes in the Seven Years/French and Indian War were fresh in the minds of the British people, even as the fortunes of the American War were at a low ebb.

Given that Thomas Ewart published primarily in the 1750's and 1760's, it is more likely that this piece was also published in that period, when the topic of Forster and the Antigallican would have been more relevant.

Standing ashore, a pair of sailors shake hands. The first offers a toast: "Here's to Our noble apt Forster and a safe Arrival of the Three Prizes in the River Thames." The toast is continued by his mate: "May the french Fleet be put up to Auction & the French King not have a penny of money to bid for it."

Holding a punch bowl, this sailor is dressed in a single breasted jacket with open slit cuffs over a checked shirt. Crossing his body is a baldrick for his sword, a fine piece with an animal head pommel. His hair is short and loose. Our sailor's neckcloth is plain and tied close to his neck. Petticoat trousers hand to just below the knee, and the ties of his breeches are peaking out beneath. At his feet is a round hat with a short, conical crown and a ribbon hanging off.

His mate wear a plain neckcloth tied close to the neck and a plain white shirt beneath a jacket that ends above the top of the thigh and open slit cuffs. Above his head he waves a round hat, and a sword hangs from his left hip. His plain trousers end just below the middle of the calf.

A View of ye Jason Privateer, c.1760

A View of ye Jason Privateer, Nicholas Pocock, c1760, Bristol City Museums.

The Jason was a Bristol slaver, and an old one by the time she began the slave trade. Built in 1716, she made at least five voyages to various ports along the West African coast, embarking approximately 1,500 Africans. Of these, a little under 200 died in the Middle Passage.

She was commanded by a different captain on almost every voyage, and her last voyage was commanded, at least in part, by Captain John Brackenridge.

Years later, Nicholas Pocock was commissioned to depict a series of Bristol slavers, all of whom were captained by Brackenridge at some point. It is likely that Brackenridge was the one who paid to have his various commands laid down on paper by Pocock.

It is possible that, unlike the Blandford and Southwell, Pocock might have sailed on the Jason's voyage to Africa, as he was thirteen years old when Brackenridge took command. I am inclined to think he did not sail on the Jason because his depiction does not appear to be that of a Bristol slaver, but rather a warship. Jason is positively bristling with cannon. This makes sense for a privateer, as the title suggests, but means there is limited space for taking on the hundreds of enslaved people they intend to sell. There is also no barricado, a distinctive feature of slave ships.

Pocock shows the Jason flying the white ensign, a flag that is supposed to represent a Royal Navy vessel. This is not necessarily an error. Merchant vessels are sometimes depicted flying naval ensigns, including slave ships. This could be, as often was the case in the eighteenth century, a ruse to scare off enemy vessels. It could also be a mistake on the part of an artist who is not familiar with the meaning of the various ensigns (red, white, and blue).

Gathered at the foc'sle head are a number of tars. They are clad in a mix of barge caps and cocked hats, some of which are reversed.

One of the sailors holds either a sword or a stick. He wears a cocked hat, single breasted jacket that appears to have slit cuffs, and a pair of trousers.

Further aft, more sailors in cocked hats and barge caps work to the sound of a trumpet, while an officer standing larboard of the mainmast shouts commands through a speaking trumpet. One man working beside the mizzen might be wearing a scotch bonnet.

One of the small boats is populate with a few tars. One of them sits astride a cask. He wears a cocked hat with the point forward, a single breasted jacket with mariners cuffs that ends about the top of the thigh, and a pair of trousers that end at the bottom of the calf. His neckcloth is short and plain.

The coxswain wears a cocked hat, jacket, and bob wig. The two sailors wrestling with the disobedient sail in the bow are wearing a round hat with very narrow and upturned brim, and a barge cap, respectively.

An officer, presumably the captain, sits in the stern of the Jason's barge. His hand is tucked into his jacket, and another two gentlemen sit with him. The coxswain and oarsmen all wear shirt sleeves and barge caps.

Ashore, a gentleman with a cane stands under the shade of a parasol. He may be the slave dealer who secured the unwilling Africans for the dreadful Middle Passage.

The coxswain of the boat onto which their captives are to be rowed to the Jason is wearing a cocked hat, smock, and trousers. The two men pulling an African over their bow wear trousers and jackets, with a barge cape and what might be a scotch bonnet. Interestingly, the man standing on the shore appears to be barefoot. This would be one of remarkably few images to show sailors working without shoes.

In the final detail, we see a man (possibly the captain, given his mariners cuffs and reversed cocked hat) speaking with an African armed with a spear. The man gestures toward the enslaved men who are bound together and under the watchful gaze of an armed guard.

As I've said in the past, what strikes me about depictions of slave ships and their crews are that the sailors are entirely indistinguishable from naval and merchant sailors. Even as a laboring class, common tars were just as culpable in the sin of transatlantic slavery as anyone else.

Siege of Louisbourg, c.1760

The Siege of Louisbourg, artist unknown, c.1760, eBay.

Louisbourg was one of the key cities that British and American forces had to take in order to subdue Canada during the French and Indian War. In order to bring guns to bear on the citadel, General Wolfe seized Lighthouse Point (you can see the lighthouse in the right of the frame) and brought their guns to bear. Weeks of bombardment climaxed on July 21, 1758 when a British mortar struck the powder magazine of the French 64 gun Célèbre. Two nearby vessels, including the 74 gun flagship L'Entreprenant, caught fire. Wind whipped their flames onto the two remaining vessels in the French fleet, which were saved.

British boats rowed out to rescue the sailors, in a scene that would be repeated at Gibraltar a generation later. Thankfully for the French, much of the crew had been sent ashore to man the fortress, and so spared their lives.

The fires of July 21, 1758 were a popular subject for marine artists at the time. The unknown artist of this piece chose to include the fortress, a British 74 gun (the Terrible, Dublin, or Invincible), a burning French warship, the boats heading out to save her crew, and lighthouse point. It is a crowded canvas.

The 74 gun shown here might be the Dublin, which was under command of that legendary naval figure George Rodney. As a side note, the Siege of Louisbourg hosted some of the great British military men of their age, including Admiral Boscawen, George Cook, James Wolfe, and Jeffery Amherst.

Her crew are clad in blue jackets and red coats (though these may very well be marines).

Some of the boats that the warship was dispatched to the rescue of her enemies give us a slightly better look at the men. They are likewise clad mostly in blue jackets, thought a couple of brown jackets have worked their way in.

Their hats are a mixture of cocked and round hats, with the possibility of a barge cap in the jockey style thrown in there.

The Spermacaeti whale brought to Greenland Dock, 1762

The Spermacaeti whale brought to Greenland Dock 1762, artist unknown, 1762, National Maritime Museum.

In the cold waters of the North Atlantic, a small squadron of whalers deploy the boats to harpoon their prey. Driven up onto the ice is a surprisingly clean looking whale corpse. The artist is likely depicting a particularly sizable whale, one worthy of capturing on paper.

The first thing I noticed in this piece was the anachronistic flag on the whaler in the left of the frame.

The French tricolor flag did not exist until the Revolution, and so would not have been flown on a whaler in 1762. A closer look reveals that the flag is actually the Union Jack, and that some subsequent colorist sought to re-brand the original image at at later date. If not for obvious anachronisms like this, it would be nearly impossible to tell when a colorist comes along later. This is one of the pitfalls in relying solely on primary source images in a study such as mine. Always be open to questioning your sources and rounding out your knowledge with other sources.

Our sailors are clad in blue and red jackets, cocked hats, and round hats.